John Cathal O'Brien

Residing in New York clearly hasn’t distracted O’Brien from his celtic Folky roots as he delivers something for a niche market but still twinge with effervescent character that could see this album do relatively well.

O’Brien’s lyrics paint vivid pictures born of his imagination and experiences – most prominently – as with so many artists these days – a life-changing event. Many tracks are reminiscent of calming campfire jingles designed to take the listener away from their current environment and into the solemnity that is O’Brien-ville.

As you would expect with folk, many of the songs are largely unwired – acoustic breeds authenticity. Acid Week is just a man with a guitar desperate to poetically vent over simple chords as he still comes to grips with foreign land; not too dissimilar from the Wayfairing Stranger that Burl Ives sang about all those years ago.

Then one particular song midway through the album named ‘Jolene (Different Woman)’ leant toward suggesting that O’Brien has also taken something from his time in the US. Its upbeat tempo took the songwriter swiftly into the realms of Rockabilly – very appropriate considering the genre has roots in Folk.