Garrett Wall has been making inroads into the Spanish market lately. Good on him. By Irish and UK standards, he operates in the safer end of the folk-rock realm, but they view things differently on the continent.
He is an impressive vocalist. What’s more, contributions from Howard Brown on trumpet and Robbie K. Jones on cajón lift the music beyond the predictable. ‘Is There No Freedom?’ has country and gospel overtones and makes for a tasty duet with Spanish singer Lua. The Yeats’ poem ‘Never Give All The Heart’ gets a plaintive and sensitive treatment, while ‘The Ballad Of An Exorcism’ has a mainstream folk approach, showcasing Wall’s warm vocal and his gift for a winning melody and – like the introspective ‘And Love’s Like Desert’ – it benefits from the warm Spanish flavourings. ‘Mynah Bird’, meanwhile, has charming harmonies doubled by Wall himself on a song with echoes of Paul McCartney and Paul Simon.
There are two instrumentals: ‘Lord Grant Us Faith’ is a short fragment by Dave Benedict that hardly justifies inclusion, and ‘Fading Colours’ has da-da-dah vocals that seems indulgent.
Those moments of weakness aside, Hands and Imperfections is a worthy reintroduction to Wall’s talents for Irish music fans. He is not genre-hopping or breaking new musical ground, but who ever said that was essential to making a decent record?
JACKIE HAYDEN
KEY TRACK: IS THERE NO FREEDOM?