If someone unfamiliar with the current crop of Irish musicians were to cock an ear to Other Voices 2, they could be forgiven for thinking that Ireland’s rock ‘n’ rollers were mellowing out. Over 19 tracks, there’s hardly a voice raised in anger, there are no squalling guitars, no pounding drums, no head-shaking, earth-quaking moments of pure noise. But then that’s not what this album, nor the TV series that spawned it, is about.
Other Voices is all about stripping back the music, unplugging the distortion pedals and allowing the songs and the singers to breathe in the intimate surrounds of the tiny but magical St James’ Church, Dingle. In this, it succeeds admirably.
Paddy Casey’s anger on the acerbic ‘Self Servin’ Society’ resounds with resignation rather than righteous rage. Even Glen Hansard’s take on Mic Christopher’s anthemic ‘Heyday’ is restrained and less bombastic than his usual live performances.
Simple Kid’s bittersweet beat symphony ‘Staring At The Sun’ sounds like it was recorded in the midst of a Californian summer, rather than a bitterly cold December in Kerry (practically every musician on the sleeve is wearing a woolly jumper).
Bell-X1’s ‘Daybreak’ is truly gorgeous, Dave Geraghty and Paul Noonan’s vocals harmonising to spine-shivering perfection, while the music takes some unexpected but very welcome detours in the background – although whoever edited this album castrated the song’s stunning a capella finale.
Of the adopted Irish musicians, Rodrigo y Gabriela are typically mesmerising on ‘Captain Casanova’, The Handsome Family are suitably gothic on ‘Forgotten Lake’ and Bic Runga’s beautiful ‘The Be All And End All’ is probably the best thing I’ve heard from the New Zealand songstress to date.
Elsewhere, Declan O’Rourke gives his many fans a boost ahead of his debut album release this summer with ‘Your World’. Christy Moore’s version of Noel Brazil’s ‘Metropolitan Avenue’ proves that the Kildare bard is showing no signs of softening with age, while his brother Luka Bloom chips in with a startling version of ‘You’, first heard on The Acoustic Motorbike. Meanwhile, Gemma Hayes has rarely sounded as good as on the gorgeous lullaby, ‘Evening Sun’.
Series host Jerry Fish adds a touch of lounge-style swamp soul with the brass-driven ‘Upside Down’, one of the highlights from his Be Yourself album. Then there’s the beautiful fragility of Kittser’s ‘Saturdays’ and the beguiling creature that is Carol Keogh’s voice on The Tycho Brahe’s enchanting ‘Out Of The Blue’, while The Jimmy Cake’s ‘My Brass Buttons’ prove that it’s not always a bad thing when the lunatics take over the asylum.
Perhaps the biggest surprise, though, is Turn’s take on Loudon Wainwright III’s ‘One Man Guy’, with Ollie Cole coming across like a younger Kris Kristofferson or Willie Nelson on a beautiful, countrified ballad, alongside stunning harmonies courtesy of Ian Melady. This is as far removed from the bluster of ‘Beretta’ as it’s possible to get.
Other Voices 2, along with the first volume in the series, is as fine a snapshot of acoustic Ireland as it’s possible to get and provides the perfect soundtrack for late night drives or early morning hangovers. Personally, I’d love to see a companion volume of electric material, where these musicians get to really let their hair down and unleash their rawer, less polished sides onto the world at large. But these are probably just the gripes of a greedy rock critic, and if Other Voices 2 leads new audiences to search out more material by this clutch of supremely talented musicians, it will have served its purpose well.