Twisted Illusion - 'Molly's Smile' Charity Single Review

Tracklist:

1. Molly's Smile

2. Discovery (Live)

3. Hatred Is A Virtue (Live)

All proceeds from the release will be donated to http://www.mearfest.org/

Matt Jones is a talented musician who keeps himself busy, not many people can bring out a Double album ('Insight Into the Mind Of A Thousand Voices') and a charity single within a couple of months, apparently, he's already planning more new music next year as well as more live performances. This is the second release from Twisted Illusion I've had the pleasure of reviewing, the aforementioned charity single. 'Molly's Smile' the title track is a marvellous epic and emotive song, in typical Matt Jones fashion it is not like anything else around, carefully crafted and very listenable with the kind of depth that makes you come back for more.

The "B-sides" are two live tracks. 'Discovery' is a track from the aforementioned "Insight..." and therefore a song I am familiar with having reviewed the album a few weeks ago although this version is somewhat altered to account for the live incarnation of Twisted Illusion's stripped back line up, not worse, not missing anything major (although I do love the nuances of the studio version). The second live track here is "Hatred Is A Virtue" which hails from earlier release 'Temple Of Artifice' and is more of an uptempo rockier number than 'Molly's Smile' and 'Discovery'.

If I were to raise any concerns relating to this single I would point out that perhaps the live recordings are sonically limited (the quality of the recording is the factor here, not the musicianship on show) but having been a member of the King Crimson Collectors Club I've heard good quality music recorded badly due to technical limitations before and I did not find it off-putting here, as the quality of 'Molly's Smile' alone, both sonically and as an emotionally satisfying piece of music, is more than enough to justify the purchase for my mind.