This, Roesy’s fourth album, sees the Birr man moving up a few gears, applying a more electric sheen to gloss up his normally acoustic-based and introspective approach.
The sultry ‘Shake The Devil Down’ kicks matters off, swaggering in with Roesy’s voice at his most expressive. The latter part of ‘Cat Gut And Wind’ employs eastern-tinged drones and chants to mystical effect, using, as the title suggests, just his guitar and voice, before slipping seamlessly into the more electric ‘Endless Day’ on which his voice evokes that of Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson.
‘Ways To The Sun’ shows he hasn’t rejected his acoustic roots and his octave vocals work a treat, and ‘Burdett Ballad’ smokes and smoulders, with Roesy reflecting on life and all that goes with and without it.
‘One of The Same’ is a confident cracker with a great chorus and all. Its perfection is marred only by a slightly dodgy fuzz-guitar fill, while ‘Get To The Ocean’ is electrified to fine effect, with echoes of Duane Eddy in the guitar riffage. The swoonsome ‘Trailing The True Star’ is a seriously seductive gem, a trick repeated with ‘Home It Has Flown’ to which Carol Keogh adds her trademark vocals, but ‘Propeller’ plays it fast and loose, proving that writing thought-provoking literate songs is no bar to getting down and dirty.
Roesy has a second career as a vivid, provocative painter. This album applies the same colourful vision to his music, with often masterful effect.