Alice Costelloe - Move On With The Year

There hasn't really been a time in Alice Costelleo's life when she hasn't been a musician of some kind. Having started as a guitarist in a band at age 12, by 23 she had already been signed, formed a duo in Big Deal, released three albums, and the pair split, and she became the touring bassist for Superfood. Now with all that experience under her belt, 'Move On With The Year' is her first full-length work as a solo artist. It is also the first time she has allowed herself to be really, truly vulnerable with her audience, as each track forms part of a confrontation with her past as the child of somebody with substance abuse issues.

It's to be expected that someone in Costelloe's position would perhaps approach writing about such intense, dark subject matter with a lot of pent-up anger and resentment that has been fizzing away at the surface, ready to blow at any second, but instead, it's mostly pain and a sprinkling of guilt under the microscope. 'Damned if you do' sees her ponder everything that could've been as she conjures up images of friends' weddings over the top of a flute accompaniment which feels a bit rogue on a song led by quite simple guitar, but Costelloe used this album as an opportunity to learn a new instrument and found that the flute helped add to the sadness she was trying to convey through the music.

As children, we often believe our parents are the best people on the planet, and there's nothing they could do to wreck that belief. There's a quiet devastation in 'How Can I?' as she battles with the fact that this image has been spoiled, but somehow she still cares deeply for this person who has let her down so badly. To counteract the darkness of the track, she adds in the closing lines of "I am good, I'm enough, I'm surrounded by love", and in replacement of angry outbursts, her digs are brutally clever and well articulated. 'Feet on the sand' finds her focusing on all the things left unsaid and the ripple effect addiction can have on families, whilst 'Every Time' and 'Anywhere Else' see her wishing to shift away from a life where this experience is all she knows.

Revisiting the past and re-opening old wounds can be a huge challenge, but it's one that Alice Costelloe takes in her stride. 'Move On With The Year' is the sign of someone who is sure of the direction they want to go in and a reminder that looking back on a tough time doesn't always have to be done with bitterness.