James O’Connor - Behind The Scenes

On first listen, this 28-year-old midlands troubadour and his backing band The Friendly Strangers seem heavily influenced by classic pop of the 1960s variety. Still, there is a singer-songwriter tone, too: his melodies are well-crafted with lyrics drawing on daily experiences and general ruminations on life.
Opener ‘Tightrope’ makes for a terrific start – it features Kinks-like observational vignettes, with a classic melody and a punchy middle-eight. He adopts a music-hall approach on the more whimsical ‘Can’t Take Money’ (complete with “oom-pah-pah” rhythm). ‘Hindsight’ offers a reggae-ish beat under a McCartney-esque melody, ‘Careless With Words’ is roughly hewn from the tune of ‘Please Mr Postman’, while the catchy ‘Keep Your Mind’ and jaunty ‘Warmth of A Smile’ celebrate the joys of living. Elsewhere, ‘Touch And Go’ is more introspective and bare-boned with just an acoustic guitar, unadorned electric lead, a subtle shuffle of a rhythm and yearning lyrics: “Yesterday, I begged and ‘borrowed/ now I say goodbye to sorrow.”
On the pointed ‘Small Town Syndrome’ he takes aim at the claustrophobia of provincial Irish life which, he bemoans, “will strive to drag you down... sucks you in... bleeds you dry”. The jangly power-pop of ‘Falling Up’ broaches the issue of domestic abuse while ironically being the most uplifting tune on the album.
Impressive.
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