The Gift
8/10
An exquisite dichotomy exists between the sweetness of Leah Berry’s voice and the worldliness of her words. “I move slow,” she tells us, “since the last time I found warmth in your embrace.” Yet, at the end, she’s affirming, “You’ll stay in my dreams.” This complex love song about clinging to passionate memories is called The Gift, and the music was penned by pianist Mike Nock as a wistful instrumental. Berry sent her lyrics to Nock, and a collaboration was born. She set words to eight more tunes, and they also used Jo Lawry’s lyrics to Nock’s exotic Nata Lagal.
Embracing You is a variation on The Gift’s lyrical content, this time about a glance, a smile, an affair, and another love that will live on post-fling, like a soul that’s left its body. The terminated affair in Sunshowers sparks more overt bitterness, Dawn Bird is a poetic account of awakening in New Zealand’s Haast Pass, and Thinking of You is a reverie about a parent. Nock, revelling in having words set to his music, responds with some of his most lavish lyricism, superbly supported by bassist Jonathan Zwartz and drummer Laurence Pike.
https://www.birdland.com.au/mike-nock-leah-berry-the-gift
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Nock