Irish Son

Two cheers, to start with, for the artist formerly known as Bryan: first for taking leave of the romper-room pram-pop of Westlife, and then for having the courage to pen and record ‘Irish Son’, the reaction to which has brought out a sort of inverse racism (not to mention snobbery) in some quarters.

Sure it has a clumsy line or two, and it certainly ain’t Bob Dylan – but it offers a philosophy of honesty and independent-mindedness that many of McFadden’s most vociferous critics could learn from. Besides, which other former boy or girl band member has put such naked autobiographical passion into a pop-rock hit?

Whereas he could have just become this year’s Darius, what’s impressive is that McFadden – aided and abetted by former Robbie W songsmith sidekick Guy Chambers – has opted for a significant break from St Louis’ school of music-for-children. It is a move that required more than a modicum of courage.

There’s more autobiographical angst in ‘Sorry Love Daddy’ (about his son) and ‘Real To Me’ – a single that impressed a lot of people on the rock’n’roll side of the musical fence. ‘Walking Into Walls’ and ‘Lose Lose Situation’, meanwhile, are solid examples of mainstream pop-rock that look beyond the trite aspects of boy finds/boy loses-girl syndrome.

Other noteworthy moments are the loping drum track on ‘He Finds Heroes’ and the chiming guitars on ‘Lose Lose Situation’.
Irish Son isn’t by any means a resounding success all the way. On occasion, the lyrics are disappointing and the melodies predictable – check ‘Be True To Your Woman’; also, there’s a tendency to smother the songs in ersatz strings, to schmaltzy effect, and the duet with Delta Goodrem on ‘Almost There’ adds little to the sum of human knowledge, as if McFadden had a failure of nerve along the way.

But here’s the nub of it: we’ve seen many a boy and girl band-er leave the womb-like safety of their nests only to stick with the same safe and narrow blueprint as before. In contrast, McFadden has managed to see beyond the obvious, to look into his own heart and find the courage to expose what he finds there.

If he can continue to do that, and to grow and develop artistically in the meantime, we may just find that three cheers will be in order next time out.

Click here to read Tanya Sweeney's 3-out-of-10 review of Irish Son.