FATEA Review of ENDLESS HORIZON

Florence Sommerville has been one of the rising stars of British Country music for some time and her debut album confirms the promise. We praised the single (I’ll Be Your) Best Broken Heart recently. She says that “the song was written during my second ever visit to Nashville, in April 2024, with two incredible writers: Shantell Ogden and Corey Lee Barker. Once we had started, the song just seemed to flow out of us all.” And it’s an effortless song to listen to, with all the best things about modern country without the grit sanitised out. Fearless, adds a bit of
Bluegrass to the sound, with the mandolin complementing her vocal delivery very well.

Overton (presumably after the Hampshire village) stays with the acoustic format. Joe Mansfield’s Dobro punctuates her story of young love. As the first song written solely by Florence there is no discernible drop in quality, but a definite increase in the personal sound which does reflect in her singing. The other two single releases Broken Pieces and California are next and back to the very contemporary country, although the former has an unmistakeable Fleetwood Mac circa Rumours tinge to it, which is a good thing, and certainly makes it an album highlight.

The Ballad California is another co-write. The team including singer and songwriter Sally Barris who contributes to 4 of the songs on the album. The co-writers do inject a little more Nashville into the songs, which she needs to offer to make this a commercial prospect, although for me her own writing is as good as the team writes. The closing guitar solo in California is delightful.

Out Where Love Grows endorses the “Britishness” of her writing. Once again, she talks about English village life, she comes from Orsett in Essex. Her own writing does seem to suit the more acoustic style, and this is easily one of the best country songs you will hear this year. But you could say that about most of the album. Silly Little Things, another of the Barris co-writes, and is clearly one that didn’t start with Florence, although she has put her stamp on the song. Forget the Water is a great example of the maturity of the writing; she’s in her early 20s. While this has 2 co-writers it is clearly Florence’s song and is another lost love song, where she buoys herself up with Whisky, without the water. Sung solo to her own guitar, this is where the strength of voice shines out.

Each song reveals another aspect of her music, without the album unity suffering. There are a few dominant instrumental voices, Dobro on the acoustic songs, like Love Me Then and a precisely picked electric guitar and pedal steel on Boots In The Rain. The last two songs, another Fleetwood Mac influenced song, Molasses, which really could be sing by Stevie Nicks without feeling out of place, and Cut And Run, both of them solo writes, with the latter being the ballad highlight of the album.

A good reason to buy the CD are the 4 acoustic songs. Her own Whiskey in the Morning highlights possibly her best singing here, and a guitar and voice version of Love Me Then stand alongside covers of Sweet Child O’ Mine, rapidly becoming the country cover of the moment. She more than does justice to it. We also have Stevie Nicks’ Landslide which confirms what we have already suspected that she must be a favourite singer. Taking this and making it her own is a true achievement and confirms that we have a major talent blossoming. It also confirms what we said in our recent review of her single that Florence is currently Britain’s best Country singer. Make sure you see her before Nashville claims her permanently.

Tim Martin