Hearts in a Prison – E G Holmes (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

Relationships are hard at the best of times. But trying to make things work when distance is also a factor makes things even harder. “Hearts in a Prison,” the new one from E. G Holmes, is based not only on such an idea but one very much drawn from experience.

While living in Center Island, NY, during a trip to the midwest, he met and fell for a woman from the Chicago suburbs, and so began a relationship that would have to not only negotiate the usual ups and downs of love and longing and getting to know each other but also navigate the 800-mile distance between them. So it is a testament to the power of love that they eventually married. Love finds a way, and overcoming that distance was the creative spark for “Hearts in a Prison,” a song that muses on such geographical hurdles.

Although he is known as a musician who wanders all over the musical map looking for the necessary elements and inspirations that he uses to build his songs – rock, indie, soul, singer-songwriter, and often a deft blend of many styles – here he looks to classic reggae vibes as the sonic vehicle to deliver his message.

Musically, “Hearts in a Prison” walks that perfect line between freshness and familiarity. This is forward-thinking music but built on a platform of established traditions and styles. Now, I’m no Jamaican music expert, but even I can hear the whole musical history of the island passing through this song, from the confident roots reggae vibes to the skanking guitars of the ska music that preceded it and the sparser, more groove-oriented dancehall rhythms gently playing out too. It’s all there.

It’s a great song and one that we can all relate to, to some degree. Absence, as they say, makes the heart grow fonder, whether that absence is caused by a distance of one, ten, one hundred, or even thousands of miles. And it certainly worked out alright in the end for E.G. Holmes; despite the distance, he got the girl.

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