Brightest Star

Since debut album Ultramack 004 heralded their arrival in 1994, Decal’s impressive catalogue of music includes releases for labels like Trama Industries, Planet Mu, Leaf, React and Warp, with remixes for Two Lone Swordsmen, Keith Tucker and Mark Broom also under their belt.

When Dennis McNulty quit this January, Alan O’Boyle continued at the helm alone, and the results are Brightest Star, released on Andrew Weatherall’s RGC imprint and dedicated to ‘Snakehips’ McNulty (who is now pursuing a career in sound art and ambient experimental music).

Hot on the heels of the debut collections from Liquid Wheel and Headzinc, Brightest Star is yet another top class Irish dance release, as entertaining and home listener-friendly an electro album as you’re likely to get. Indeed, Brightest Star should see O’Boyle take his rightful place among the front rank of internationally renowned dance producers.

His technical superiorities are most evident on the eerie ‘Horrorable’, the menacing ‘Growler’ and the ridiculously sweet ‘A Little To Happy’, but what makes BS so essential a purchase for music fans of all persuasions is its incredibly high quotient of tunes as contagious as the SARS virus – ‘Seeker’, ‘Freekin’ Empires’ and ‘Gadgets’ are three of the best examples, all marrying uplifting chords and melancholy melodies in a way so few artists can.

As for the old skool flavours of the luscious title track, isn’t it nice that it takes an Irishman just four minutes to deem the whole electroclash movement ridiculously irrelevant? Whether Alan O’ Boyle is our brightest star or not remains to be seen, but he’s certainly raised the benchmark for all future Irish dance albums. Not to mention given us one of the most memorable, pleasurable, booty-shakin’ long-players yet released in 2003.