David J. Caron: Thru Ever-Ending Black

It takes some level of ambition and self-assuredness to release a 28-track double debut album – with many of the tracks clocking in at well over the six-minute mark! The muscled, tattooed, Letterkenny-based Irish-Italian singer, musician, composer, arranger and producer that is David J. Caron, however, appears to have confidence in spades.

His official biography makes all manner of claims about his “uniqueness” – and that certainly holds up in terms of the audacity of his approach, which effectively proclaims: everything I do is worth listening to! For the most part the songs here are approachable, guitar-driven, melodic rock with a slick and polished sheen that wouldn’t sound out of place on the Eurovision stage these days. It is all deftly-performed, well-recorded and very catchy in places. There is a lot to take in, especially from a first-time artist. And with so much to hear, the risk is that it is harder for the potential hits to rise to the surface. I might have advised picking the best twelve tracks to deliver a balanced, nuanced listening experience. But fortune sometimes favours the brave: it would not be a surprise if, in a year’s time, Carron had made his mark – whether at home or abroad.