Liam Macdonald

“Liam Macdonald seems to be a fascinating man indeed... He got some friends to help out on the VERGE album and the result is captivating.

At times sounding like he is possessed with the lyrical soul of Jim Morrison and come to think of it some of the other members of The Doors as well, the songs are like nothing else you will hear on the radio. The style is rock with a mix of jazz, world and pop. The instruments featured on these songs include violins, saxophones, mini-Moog, Thai keen and Indian percussion. With this sort of experimentation, the songs are anything but dull.

The second half of the album sounds like a mix of modern rock ‘n’ roll meets Roy Orbison. Throughout, you get a sense that everyone involved enjoyed recording this album...” - PHASE9 Entertainment, Los Angeles

"Liam Macdonald's Verge is a very interesting release, a melange of folk, world, jazz and rock with no easy hook to hang your coat on. But its' diversity is what makes it so pleasurable. Unusually, I'm going to hit you with the highlights first. 'Man Woman Child' is an absolute gem, which you really need to hear, world without being weary. And 'Should Have Known' is a bona fide pop classic that should be all over the radio. Overall the band and backing create a very sympathetic environment for Liam's voice and songs. He was once dubbed "a male Joni Mitchell", and that's not too far off the mark. There's a little bit of everything and for once eclectic is not a dirty word." - Zeitgeist Magazine, Edinburgh

“...Liam's songs really stand out from the usual guitar/vocal that we associate with the genre. His rich, deep voice brings out another dimension from the songs...

...the sax on 'Smiling Faces' or the pedal-steel guitar on 'Man Woman Child' really gives them an edge. 'Eagle And Snake' has a semi-spoken vocal, and violin by Tim Carbone who also produced the album, and 'nemOmen' is given a distinctly creepy edge by the rumbling bass and mini-Moog squeaks. 'Should Have Known' has a 60's country feel courtesy of Buck Dilly's Hammond organ, the Beatles-y backing vocals and Harrison-alike guitar solo, and the joyous 60's pop feel is carried through to 'Smiling Faces'. I have come away from this album mightily impressed by a new talent.” - Feedback - MENSA's Rock Music Magazine, U.K.

“...'VERGE' is sort of a singer songwriter's band album, with its heart in roots music. But it isn't that. It's folk but in a very modern way. If you can have country music as a genre, then can I suggest 'city music' for this release? It has the same attitude as the former, but is urban based... VERGE is a classy release of excellent tunes?!...” - Classic Rock Society Magazine, U.K.

"Singer-songwriters are ten thousand a penny at the best of times. Pick up any wistful-looking stone and there’ll be about five of them under there, complaining about navel fluff and the price of guitar strings in a whiny Jeff Buckley type voice. It’s hardly inspiring. Thankfully Liam Macdonald favours a rather more ornate stone to make his home under...

'Verge' is all over the place, but it’s a pretty nice place to be all over. The album kicks off in a thicket of spoken-word jazz noodle weirdness but by the end it’s more like the Travelling Wilburys getting to grips with 'Rubber Soul.' In a cunning inversion of the usual running-order approach, Macdonald starts with his most willfully out-there and serious stuff and gets progressively more commercial and poppy as the album plays on. Not the most obvious way to get from A to B but one that ends up being hard to criticise...

As admirable as the 'difficult' songs here are, it’s on the more pop-friendly material that Verge really scores points – Macdonald’s voice has echoes of Roy Orbison and The Lovin’ Spoonful’s Joe Butler, and it’s perfectly suited to the folk/country-rock stylings of the second half of the album... The opening 'Eagle And Snake' might be the sounds of a Greenwich Village art loft, but the likes of the jangle-tastic 'Manitoulin' are straight outta Woodstock... 'Smiling Faces' in particular is near-faultless Sunshine Pop, not even two minutes long and sounding like some long-lost San Francisco classic unearthed at last. And this is the same guy who, only 20 minutes earlier, was starsailing out with the lurching, keening 'nemOmen' (the best of the artier pieces, and a song that sounds like it’s walking along an especially precarious tightrope). Verge really ought to be incoherent, incomprehensible and unapproachable. It is, of course, none of the above. A triumph of instinct over logic, then." - British Independent Record Dealers' Magazine

“Verge is something a bit different that I quite enjoyed... Verge is also very good because no two songs are alike which makes it more interesting and gives a better indication of the talent of Macdonald and the musicians as well... Macdonald's voice is powerful and distinct... There is quite a lot of experimenting going on that in this case works... Verge is unusual in a good sense.” - Radio Six International, Glasgow

“Liam Macdonald's 'Verge' CD is EXCELLENT! We especially like the first two tracks, 'Eagle and Snake' and 'Burning Blue' - A wonderful opener.”

(Aural Innovations has featured 'Eagle and Snake,' 'Burning Blue' and 'Man Woman Child' on their programs.) - Aural Innovations, U.K.

“Verge is VERY cool - exactly the *unique approach* to music that I mainly like to present at my shows! I am enjoying Liam Macdonald's very own *fusion* sound very much!”

(Lord Litter has featured 'Burning Blue' and 'Man Woman Child' on his internationally syndicated Cyberstorm Radio Show and on Radio Marabu's Lord Litter's special programs.) - Radio Marabu, Berlin