Nick Carswell is one of the few Irish artists proving there might still be life in the singer-songwriter genre. But then he’s more than that, as he and his orchestral accomplices present an unerring riposte to those who claim the Irish music scene is moribund.
The opening instrumental ‘Quiet, Like A Sleeping Lake’ has an acoustic base overlaid with sinuous Middle Eastern meditative melodies, that weave around each other. ‘Waking Up (Is Hard To Do)’ picks up the tempo, its strings slithering in and out, and ‘When I’m Not Around’ is an adventurous, string-driven thing with a vicious hook. ‘Folks Like Us’ is jauntier, delicate fingerstyle guitar and beautiful vocal harmonies to nourish the soul. The oh-too-brief ‘A TV Theme Tune For The New Chief!’ is breathtakingly emotive, while ‘To Never Cut Or Paste’ has a plaintive orchestral sweep to soundtrack the end of a pensive day.
There’s a sombre feel to Carswell’s voice that’s echoed in the violin and cello, and his lyrics have something of the night about them. His orchestral manoeuvres and the dark hue of his lyrics will draw comparisons with The Frames and Sufjan Stevens, but listening with both ears will reveal an elective collective far more than the sum of their influences, true artists instinctively avoiding the obvious in order to take creative risks that are equally rewarding for the listener.