One glance through the sleeve notes of Miriam Ingram’s debut album and we would appear to be on very familiar ground. Produced by Dave Odlum? Check. Drums by Graham Hopkins? Check. Joe Chester involved in some way? Check. Throw in some glowing quotes by Glen Hansard and you have your standard Dublin singer-songwriter package.
Ingram, however, has more claim to such contacts than most. A former member of the Wilde Oscars, she pieced Trampoline together over the past few years. To her credit, she has taken these familiar names and done something quite extraordinary with them, at least on first impressions. Right from the off, the record is a bombardment of sounds and ideas.
The lead track ‘Elastic’ features a New Orleans style jazz trumpet, double bass and harp amongst the drums, bass, guitar and layers of electronics – no surprise that it takes a ten piece band to realise this live. The effect is stunning, helped no end by an equally impressive song.
So it continues, with each track upping the ante until ‘Winter’ reaches a crescendo of noise. The comparison with the stark, striking cover of Sandy Denny’s ‘Who Knows Where The Time Goes’ couldn’t be greater or more effective. Sadly it’s also the last truly great moment on the album, with the second half proving a grave disappointment. Nothing seems to really click, with the songs losing focus and the music following suit. Ingram manages to rescue things somewhat with the closing ‘Slide’, although you can’t help but feel that this is a missed opportunity given the undoubted quality of the opening tracks.
As it is, Trampoline is very good, but it could have been incredible.