Every once in a while a group comes along that instantly grabs you and makes you ask this question, “why doesn’t everybody else get this?” For me, The Little Unsaid are that band. Having followed the career of drummer Tim Heymerdinger for a number of year via his work with the (mainly local) bands of Katie Buckhaven and Louise Petit, and then onto Ghosts In Daylight, when he joined forces with singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist John Elliott’s, one man band project, The Little Unsaid alongside Alison D’Souza (strings) who had worked with Elliott on 2013’s Dig For The Promise, and Mariya Brachkova (synths and backing vocals), my curiosity was peaked. Stay Fragile All Across This Cold Frontier marks the 10^th anniversary of the inception of “The Band” which evolved following the release of Elliott’s Fisher King sixth solo release under The Little Unsaid brand in 2015. The band have gone on to release a further five albums the most recent being Fable in 2022. Since then John ‘Patrick’ Elliott has kept himself busy writing scores for plays (KENREX, Cruise) and releasing solo projects (February Songs), as well as collaborating with island musician and craftsman Piers Lewin on Lost Songs Of Scilly. But now to mark a decade together it is time to get the band back together.

Townshend, Daltrey, Entwhistle, and Moon as The Who, Paige, Plant, Jones, and Bonham, of Zeppelin, there is one thing that these names have which Elliott, Heymerdinger, Brachkova, and D’Souza also display by the bucket load. CHEMISTRY! There is something very special that happens whenever this ensemble enter a recording space (on this occasion an iron hulled lightship) or step on stage, and that spark has once again been well and truly ignited here. Stay Fragile All Across This Cold Frontier finds the key players augmented in the studio by Grammy, MOBO and Mercury nominated Sonny Johns on bass guitar and he is certainly not just here to make up the numbers, adding that final element to the musical potion and creating a perfect alchemy. It has been said on more than one occasion that it is almost impossible to categorise The Little Unsaid and there is no update on that statement within Stay Fragile…. Folk, jazz, progressive, and classical elements are all still present, but unlike previous releases, and due to the improvisational environment that these songs were recorded under, with the band together in one room containing a metaphorical blank sheet of paper, the instrumentation supplies multiple layers with each taking moments as the hero throughout the tracks, but avoiding attention grabbing soloing to create what is a perfect synergy.

Sonny Johns bass is the first element to make its presents felt as it pulses over Elliott’s characteristic light keyboard during ‘Strangers’ tale of nurturing the “beginner’s mind”. Once again the complexity of Elliott’s verses force the listener to find their own path through his words as he brings colour to the pallet both literally and emotionally throughout another collection of intricate lyrics. Building conceptual themes of, new beginnings, new chapters, new life, new landscapes, and new frontiers, whether in the openers “purple dirt” and “black sands”, the “purple line” of ‘Sundown, Coldharbour Lane’, the “red kisses” and “ice white sea” of ‘Shoreline Prayer’ or within the darkness and light displayed within the “thunderstorm sun” of ‘Shadows Are Where The Truth Gets Told’ and “chipped knuckle bones” of ‘Small Windows’, which following its acoustic guitar entrance fades into angelic voices over classical strings as it closes. Although each member supplies truly unique attributes to build the bands sound, during the loneliness of the piano which is invaded by saxophone and Heymerdinger’s brushed snare on the title track, shades of ‘The Raven That Refused To Sing’ Steven Wilson spring to mind. Elsewhere ‘So Long, Skinny Blue’ (another colour reference) takes a slow waltz as the D’Souza’s viola swoops over the narrative. What this album achieves beyond the groups previous recordings (as great as they are) is the perfect balance of lyrical complexity amongst musical excellence, like white clouds over a clear blue sky (they’ve got me at it now), without losing any of those earworm qualities of a simple repeated chorus which creates its own catchy rhythm, ‘Shoreline Prayer’, and ‘Surfacing’ being prime examples of this technique. “Open your eyes. You’ve arrived. And now begin”… these are the closing lines of the final track (‘Small Windows’) on Stay Fragile All Across This Cold Frontier, but maybe they should be its introduction. To best appreciate the depth of the soundscapes on offer, Stay Fragile… is best served via headphones or in a darkened room, NOT via your mobile phone.

The single for ‘Shoreline Prayer’ was released on 8^th August, ahead of the album release at the end of September, and the band will be heading out for a short jaunt around the UK following the albums release, commencing in Havant on 11th October and culminating in Sheffield. The Little Unsaid live is an almost spiritual experience and “band” gigs don’t come around frequently enough, so tickets are likely to fly out of the door. If you get the chance, do check them out. I’m sure like myself, you will “get it”. This is not a band for the 6 second TikTok generation but quality music made by proper songwriters and musicians for serious music lovers.

• Reviewed By Peter Brockwell.
• Stay Fragile All Across This Cold Frontier is released via Carbon Moon Records on 26th September 2025.
• The Little Unsaid | Shoreline Prayer (Single) | The Little Unsaid | Music | The Little Unsaid | (5) Facebook | The Little Unsaid (@thelittleunsaid) • Instagram photos and videos | The Little Unsaid (@TheLittleUnsaid) / X

Track List:

1. Stranger

2. Song Of The Unseen

3. Sundown, Coldharbour Lane

4. Stay Fragile All Across This Cold Frontier

5. Shoreline Prayer

6. Surfacing

7. Sea Wall State Of Mind

8. Shadows Are Where The Truth Gets Told

9. Song Long, Skinny Blue

10. Small Windows