Times are becoming slightly perilous for singer-songwriters; when you think about it, there’s only really so much a musician can do with an acoustic guitar before venturing into unoriginal territory. Mathematically speaking, there are only so many permutations of riffs and chord changes one can actually use. As soon as the strains of Ian Whitty’s 7-track album Will O’ The Wisp begin, the listener gets a palpable and rather unwelcome feeling of deja-vu. Mercifully, it’s not an unpleasant experience, unlike the slew of most highly-contrived singer-songwriter records that have flooded the market.
With Steve Fanagan in the passenger seat (as producer, mixer and additional musician), Whitty has concocted a warm, rocking-chair-in-front-of-the-fire record with occasional touches of originality (instruments credited on the album sleeve include ‘Loops & Bits & Bobs’ and ‘The Open Air’). Whitty has managed to carve out a personality, a sense of identity and idiosyncracy with this collection, which is becoming increasingly difficult to do within the Irish scene.
The title track is a cosy, fuzzy track reminiscent of the understated sentimentality of the likes of Damien Rice, whilst on ‘Two For Joy’ the melding of strings, guitar and male and female vocals is positively heart-warming. Judging from the increasingly comfortable climate for singer-songwriters in Ireland, it can only be a matter of time before Whitty touches a nerve with the ready-made crowd, and said audience are intoning these very lyrics within the walls of Whelan’s.
In all, it may not exactly be the path less travelled, but to be fair it’s a pretty lovely journey all the same.