Singer-songwriter Emm Gryner hails from Canada, but she looks to the Emerald Isle for inspiration on Songs Of Love And Death, interpreting material from an eclectic mix of Irish acts.
The end results are rather hit-and-miss. There are a handful of forgettable mis-steps – maudlin piano versions of The Corrs’ ‘Breathless’ and Ash’s ‘Shining Light’ strip the originals of their pop dynamism, while Gryner’s slight-but-pretty voice lacks the depth and darkness to withstand the violent, gothic churn of The Virgin Prunes’ ‘Bau – Dachong’.
There is also plenty to enjoy on the album, though. A classy vocal performance, and some sprightly programming inject much-needed personality into The Thrills’ ‘Deckchairs And Cigarettes’ (that old expression about silk purses and sows’ ears springs to mind), while her rendition of Horslips’ ‘Dearg Doom’ replaces the original’s legendary guitar riff with some creepy, breathing-over-your-shoulder organ, removing any traces of rock bluster and adding a twisted PJ Harvery-esque menace. Elsewhere, Gryner plays up the melodic qualities in Therapy?’s ‘Nowhere’, re-casting it as a languid, campfire singalong.
On some tracks it is the excellence of the original material rather than the sparkling re-invention that shines through. Gilbert O’Sullivan’s delightful ‘Nothing Rhymed’ has a melody strong enough to make any variations in production and arrangement seem irrelevant, while Something Happens’ ‘Forget Georgia’ remains an unremarkable-yet-enjoyable slice of pop-rock.
Gryner’s selection of songs is solid, but hardly represents the very best that Irish music has to offer. Perhaps it was her intention to draw greater attention to some neglected or forgotten treasures. Regardless, Songs Of Love And Death can go down as a qualified success.