It s still only spring but The Sewing Room s Sympathy For The Dishevelled is not only the best album title of the year so far but also quite possibly the best album.
Of course, they pulled the same stunt with 1995 s And Nico, which had the critics basking in the Dublin band s mourning glory both here and in countries like France and Italy. They are also, apparently, big in Barcelona .
The main difference between Sympathy and their debut is in the arrangements: for a start, some of the songs feature velvetine string embellishments, masterminded by producer Marc Carolan and lead guitarist/lyricist Stan Erraught (who left the band last year shortly after recording was completed, the usual musical differences being cited as the main reason. Though they admit Stan s departure is a real blow, the band are not actively seeking a full-time replacement).
Also, the songs are generally faster, the guitars more upfront and, according to lead singer, Eamonn Davis, sung in a higher key though no throat surgery could ever make him the Irish Barry Gibb.
Drummer/backing vocalist/chief coffee-maker, Dez Foley, also believes that lyrically the songs are less introspective. But with The Sewing Room, aren t we dealing with degrees of introspection?
I don t know, avers Eamonn, now the band s sole remaining lyricist. Some of the songs on both albums aren t introspective at all. They re incredibly shallow. Occasionally, it s nice to have a song that doesn t really communicate or say anything at all. Big Star , for instance, is meaningless rubbish but it s a nice pop song.
How would Eamonn react if he were to be labelled a malcontent?
Yeah. . . it s not wrong. I mean when I m rich and surrounded by beautiful women in a big house, somewhere warm, I might argue - but not now.
Indeed, metaphorically speaking, the Sewing Room live in a dank bedsit where the rent is permanently due, the heating never works and the front door-key has gone missing - again. But, as the title implies, there s a deep resilience; a belief that as long as one can raise a wry smile or muster the odd cackle when confronted by life s crushing indignities, you ll get by. However, some people miss the drop-deadpan humour in The Sewing Room s lyrics, as Dez explains.
It s happened with people I know. I gave the first album to a friend of mine and he gave it one listen and decided that it was really depressing. And he wouldn t be arsed to put it back on again. He hadn t really taken it in. He just heard Eamonn s deep voice and decided that it was slash-your-wrists type stuff.
One of the reviews of the last album, continues Eamonn, said that loads of the songs were about being dumped by your girlfriend. When you actually analyse them, there s only about one song that is. But the tone of the album makes you think there s probably loads! It fooled me and I wrote the songs!
In fact, Eamonn has a longsuffering, sorry, longstanding girlfriend and a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter.
My life has changed a lot in the last few years, he says, what with having a kid and all. There s very little in common between my life now and when I was in my early 20s. I was worried about turning into Chris Rea as soon as she was born but thankfully it hasn t happened. I told my friends to give me a big thump on the head if it ever did.
With lines like You just pass/But do not make worthwhile/The time ( Borderline Vice ), one would imagine that the heaviest blows would come from the fists of his partner.
She never really listens to them . . . possibly because she doesn t want to be openly insulted, he jokes. But my lyrics are not actually that specific even though they might seem to be. I could be talking about myself; seeing it from a different character s viewpoint.
And I did go out with other girls before. I could still be writing about them. There s always ways round these things . . . like lying!
Assuming she doesn t read his interviews either, I asked Eamonn who his favourite Spice Girl is.
Mel C because she supports Liverpool, he answers. The Spice Girls have already had two good songs which is one more than Take That had in their entire career. If I was a young good-looking guy or girl and somebody offered me the chance to do what they re doing, I d do it. n
Sympathy For The Dishevelled is out now on Dead Elvis.