Ger Wolfe - I Have Been Loved

With his gentle, yearning folk melodies and easy-going voice, Cork’s Ger Wolfe has been creating understated but carefully-crafted vignettes since his 1998 debut. He continues in that vein on his seventh album with ten new songs, exquisitely performed, arranged and recorded. It’s difficult to pick out highlights, such is the even quality of the tunes, not to mention the stellar playing from a large cast.
The current single, ‘Shine Down Warmly’ is, as the title suggests, a sun-kissed, laid-back number which gently weaves its melodic magic, with wonderfully evocative lyrics: “The flowers take a notion, let their petals dance a jig, the sky pours out a potion and the river takes a swig.”
‘When I Was Hungry’ boasts a lovely brass arrangement, lyrical honesty and hopeful sentiments. Elsewhere, melancholia and regret inform songs such as ‘I Have Been Loved’ and ‘It’s All Dark’ but their lovely melodies overcome the stark subject matter. Homelessness is the subject of ‘Tell All The Lies’ where the protagonist lies in the “backstreet cardboard box and concrete.”
It’s not all low-key and sombre however; the tempo is raised on ‘Lay Your Burden Down’ which boasts a more rhythmic, almost reggae-lite backdrop, while ‘A New October Daughter’ rings in the changing of the seasons, the dark days ahead and “the comfort in your feather bed.” Sublime.

Key Track: 'Shine Down Warmly'