Album Review: Eleanor McEvoy - 'Gimme Some Wine'

Eleanor McEvoy’s exceptional 16th album is conjured from a broad palette, with influences drawn from several genres within the folk-pop tradition, yet leavened with production values that make it very much of the moment.

‘Scarlet Angels’ is an upbeat and catchy hymn to loyal musical compadres, while ‘South Anne Street’ is a nostalgic song-story about an accidental-but-memorable Dublin encounter. The languidly defiant title track was inspired by a painting by McEvoy’s late collaborator Chris Gollen, and boasts a vintage vocal. ‘A Company Of One’ is a jaunty paean to personal self-sufficiency and independence, although the ballad ‘Survival’ reveals McEvoy’s more vulnerable side. 

There’s often a grittier edge to her vocals too. Lyrically, ‘The Man Who Faked His Own Life’ is as subtle as a blowlamp and has a delicious accordion solo, while the angrily provocative ‘Found Out By Fate’ – composed with Paul Brady – is similarly inspired. 

All told, this is McEvoy’s most consistent album in a long while, with every beat, word and note earning its keep. Indeed, Gimme Some Wine is the sort of thing that gives popular music a good name.

Listen: ‘South Anne Street’

Stream Gimme Some Wine below (self-released):