Album Review: Fionn Regan, O Avalanche

As Soft Machine’s Kevin Ayers and the poet Robert Graves before him; after Fionn Regan took up residence in Mallorca, the island inspired him to channel its atmosphere into music and lyrics. Describing the Balearic Island as his “true north”, this is the perfect record to be dropping on the first day of winter, conjuring as it does - towering limestone mountains, ancient olive groves and shimmering blue waters far below.

Hacking O Avalanche into separate tunes feels destructive, because its songs fit more perfectly as a suite of music. Across its eleven tracks, you garner the sense of Regan wandering the island, troubadour style, singing of its tranquillity.

On ‘Blood Is Thicker Than Wine’, he croons, “we must be the last ones on the planet” and from the psychedelic folk-rock haze of ‘Teix Mountains’ to the flickering chamber pop of ‘Deia Song/Llucalcari’, the album sounds like he is the last man in Mallorca, and well, he almost is. Apart from backing vocals by pal Anna Friel on the title track and co-production from Ian Grimble, the rest - acoustic guitar, bass, piano, harmonium, drums – are all solely Regan.

The O Avalanche sequence of songs will no doubt be magic when played live. With that in mind, next month’s tour of Ireland has long-since sold out, but fear not, Fionn returns for an extensive UK and Ireland tour across February and March 2025. Highly recommended.

8/10