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SOUNDS GOOD Elle Kelleher Mark Conroy Paul McLoon
e SPIDER Hell or High Water [Self-Release] Famille Rose All Dressed Up With Nowhere To Go [The Corner Records] It’s been incredible to watch a new generation of artists emerge post-pandemic. These are artists who have honed their craft via the internet. They’ve taught themselves how to produce and promote music, and have no qualms about emotional vulnerability. They’ve shared more to thousands of anonymous followers than most of us could tell our closest friends. Usually, these TikTok ragers are enough to get the kids head-banging, but the superficiality of their issues will evoke gentle ‘aww’s (or mild disgust) from anyone over the age of 15. Hell or High Water, the debut EP from Dublin-born artist SPIDER, however, is something else entirely. Opener America’s Next Top Model is a strident start. Immediate comparisons can be drawn to M.I.A, or if someone gave an interesting version of Olivia Rodrigo a fuzz pedal. Why Would I Bother? is a personal favourite, with some serious ugly truths dropped over an addictive alt-pop hook. Elsewhere, closer Fuck Everyone Fuck Everything is the song Yungblud wishes he wrote. It’s a poppunk influenced track that adults wouldn’t be embarrassed to listen to. SPIDER reaches an apex of frustration which straddles the line of personal and universally relatable extremely well, something artists far more established than her frequently struggle with. SPIDER’s Hell or High Water stands head and shoulders above her online contemporaries. Confrontational, clever and ultimately sincere, this is a collection of songs that have been made for more than likes and shares. An artist to get excited about now. EK Paddy Ormond has a knack for appearing in underappreciated Irish acts. After stints in the likes of Postcard Versions and The Claque – the latter of which I desperately hope reappear – Ormond has found himself a new moniker and musical playbook. The music he makes under Famille Rose is a far cry from the sumptuous noise rock of his other work but he has thankfully kept up the quality control. All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go, his latest release and debut under this moniker, is a genial, gentle delight. The breezy, four-track EP is laid-back indie coated with a slight shimmer of deftly-applied electronics. Opener The Last recalls the serene, atmospheric easy listening of Westerman in a track that will softly burrow its way into your brain through welcome osmosis. Ormond’s choirboy vocals soar over the alluring twang of the guitar to create a bewitching sound. He follows that up with Poolbeg, a moving ode to the iconic Dublin location in which the musician’s strumming works in glorious tandem with a warbly ambient tone that conjures up an image of a never-ending ripple of water. On closer Up And Down he contorts his voice into a husky murmur but it doesn’t detract from the simple uplift of the metronomic melody of the guitar. It’s already been mentioned how Paddy Ormond often pops up in underrated bands. If he’s not getting attention based on this work, he’ll continue that unfortunate streak. We can’t let that be the caset. MC A.S. Fanning Mushroom Cloud [K&F Records] On Mushroom Cloud, the third album from selfconfessed miserablist A.S. Fanning, the Dubliner (relocated to Berlin since 2011) picks over the bones of a failed relationship in an uncertain postcovid and possibly pre-apocalyptic world. Luckily, on the resulting eight-song LP, its creator remembers to stare into the abyss to the accompaniment of at least a few decent tunes. Things get off to a suitably downcast start with the title track where damning observations on burnt-out love set the tone for a record of doomed, desperate balladry which, whilst impeccably produced and performed, occasionally lacks a killer hook. That’s not to say there isn’t a lot here to enjoy. ‘Conman’ rocks most satisfactorily, thanks to some wonderfully discordant guitars and a distressed-sounding 808’. ‘Haunted’ is the obvious candidate for single status here; an 80s-flavoured baritone pop confection sporting a surprisingly jaunty chorus. Comparisons to The National will greet ‘Sober’, a country-tinged self-lacerating ballad which notes Lee Hazlewood in its reference to “Swedish cowboy songs” and, although you may begin to suspect that this record is just a little too much in hock to its obvious antecedents (Walker, Cohen, Cave) you have to concede that it’s a captivating listen. “The arc of human history bends towards misery,” Fanning sings on ‘I Feel Bad’, possibly paraphrasing MLK, and at least you can’t say he’s not being honest with you. If the music strays a little too far over into self-pity on ‘Disease’ and ‘Pink Morning/Magic Light’, it’s done with consummate taste. Fans of the aforementioned dons of doom will find plenty to be exquisitely miserable about here, and there’s nothing wrong with that. PMcL CLICK IT OUT… 44 We know it and so should you food, fashion, photography, film, books, magazines, music, design, drink and a curated section of events for you to consider www.totallydublin.ie