Reviews
for 'god knows i love a happy ending
Folk Roots (2000)
Paul Tiernan has proved beyond doubt that he is one of Ireland's leading
contemporary songwriters. Whether within a band context, as in his Flex
& The Fastweather days, or as a solo artist, his use of words, imagery
and language have all served him well.
His two previous solo efforts outlined a talent as much at home with
a hard-hitting rock band as an acoustic folk flavoured setting. Now comes
album No.3, God Knows I Love A Happy Ending, named after a line in an
old Flex & The Fastweather song and focusing once more on Tiernan's opaque
yet confessional songwriting allied to a confident, assured delivery.
This time he has deserted the big city and recorded in the comparative
quiet of Boleagh in the West Cork town of Ballydehob. With Kieran Kennedy,
Bronagh Gallagher and Colm McCaughey along for the ride the sound is rich
as before but generally more sparse and organic.
Musically the emphasis is on acoustic elements with chiming guitars,
mandolas, fiddles, cellos and the odd slab of electronics. In many ways
this is his most obviously roots recording yet blessed with the oblique
and the unusual, in short typical Paul Tiernan.
The recipe is as before for lyrical potshots fired at obtuse angles and
contagious melodies. The strutting flamenco rhythms and ambient shades
of What Can Never Be and the Paul Simon/Leonard Cohen strains of Signals
And I Will contrast with the gurgling electronic loops of Cruel and its
anthemic chorus. Today I'm Feeling Lucky hints at John Prine's sardonic
humour before exploding into a Hey Jude-Iike chorus. 18 weaves spells
of descriptive teenage yearnings.
Tiernan's lyrical side has the word power of a Richard Thompson with
telling lines and classic observations combining simplicity and wisdom.
Tiernan's albums are never instantaneous affairs; rather they unveil themselves
on continued exposure.
God Knows I Love A Happy Ending is yet another thrilling instalment from
one of Ireland's most eloquent and expressive wordsmiths, and once surrendered
to, its charms are impossible to resist.
John O'Regan
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