Flight Cases

This sophomore release from Shannonsider Daragh Dukes [trading as Headgear] is a concept album. Comedian Pat Shortt plays sax on three of the tracks, but no need to laugh. The concept actually works.
Using a crew of real life characters, Flight Cases’ nine songs examine the limits of the human condition, the fear of flying and the desire and struggle to make a leap of faith to freedom.
For instance, album opener ‘Harry Truman’ is about the 84-year-old owner of a lodge on Mount St. Helens, who refused to leave his home and 16 cats despite the fact that the volcano was about to turn them all to toast.
Over a soft piano riff, Dukes sings from Truman’s perspective: “I have climbed my mountain and I’m not coming down/I’ve wasted enough time, I have paid enough fines, I’ve paid enough swines/I don’t need to live in fear/I can see it all from here.”
Another track, ‘Mr. Petit’ is about French tightrope artist Philippe Petit who, on August 7, 1974, walked between the twin towers of the World Trade Center on an illegally installed steel cable. “The wire that I will climb upon you will not see/But I’ll jump and I will slide and I will be set free/Who knows whether I will live or die/And the wind will yawn awake above the Hudson.”
Not that you necessarily have to know what (or who) he’s singing about in order to enjoy these 37 minutes of music. Recorded last winter in Dukes’ home studio in Limerick, the vibe is generally mellow and melancholic, but his vivid, electronic soundscapes are spacey enough to smile to.
The musicianship is never intrusive, allowing the stories to be told, but they’re still beautifully played songs. Dukes’ voice isn’t dissimilar to Damien Rice’s, but that’s not a bad thing.
Headgear might be a low-budget operator, but Flight Cases offers a short, sweet and soaring musical flight on a wonderfully sunny day. This reviewer will be flying with them regularly in the future.