An everyman of the Irish music scene, Joe Chester has previously handled production duties for The Future Kings of Spain, Nina Hynes and Nick Kelly amongst others. Up until last June he was guitarist for the excellent Tenspeedracer before they decided to call it a day.
The split though has proved beneficial, allowing him to concentrate on putting the finishing touches to his excellent debut. Taking two years to write and record, A Murder of Crows has been a labour of love for Chester. The positivity stemming from that love flows in abundance throughout the album. It’s the perfect pop record. Negative feelings, like love lost and relationship break-ups are twisted and shaped into something altogether more encouraging. There’s no room for mellow tracks of acoustic guitars and weepy vocals. Chester is much more constructive and resourceful in taking his beautifully simple songs and using his extensive production knowledge to carefully construct around them. He shapes them through solid use of varied instrumentation and strong vocal deliveries.
On ‘I Always Think You’re Leaving Me’ he’s at the pinnacle of his powers. What begins with hand claps, an electronic drum sound and a choir of “La la la”, vocals, matures into the most beautiful of pop songs. You will be lucky to hear anything more affecting all year and by the time it ends you’ll be hitting the previous track button on your stereo.
There are moments like this littered throughout. ‘A Safe Place To Hide’, which features Gemma Hayes on vocals, is another magnificent moment of melodic genius. ‘Bleed to Love Her’ is similarly inspiring. Having produced Nick Kelly’s wonderful Running Dog LP, Chester now finds himself associated with the first two great Irish records of 2005. A Murder of Crows is an absolute joy. Every home should have one.