Music

A staggering number of taste crimes have been committed of late by solo songwriters in the name of ‘honesty’, ‘simplicity’ and ‘authenticity’, with James Blunt surely at the Ted Bundy end of the scale of acoustic horror.
Welcome, then, Ciaran McFeely, who stands out from the herd not only because of the unforced poignancy of his songs, his assured grip on melodies of avian flu-like catchiness and the gentle, dark humour of his worldview, but because his list of heroes doesn’t begin with Bob Dylan and end with Van Morrison.

As Simple Kid, McFeely knocks out slouchy, beats-driven, psych-pop and folk/boho blues-toned tunes on lo-fi bedroom equipment, sourcing The Beatles, Nick Drake and, yes, Dylan, but also Beck, Canned Heat, early Marc Bolan and Bowie, Sparklehorse, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Can and The Flaming Lips. ‘2’ is the off-centre but instantly endearing result of this hotch-potch of affections and ranges from the lurching sweetness of ‘Old Domestic Cat’ to the fuzz-heavy Krautboogie of ‘Mommy ’n’ Daddy’. The lovely, Laurel Canyon-influenced ‘You’ and frazzled, hugely haunting epic ‘Serotonin’ are other highlights, but in its entirety, ‘2’ is the work of a top-drawer talent. Simple, maybe, but far from simple-minded.