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Michael J Sheehy is hardly the most well known musician around.
Low profile is probably the best way of describing his public image. And the
release of his third album, 'No Longer My Concern', is hardly likely to
change things in this respect. But that's not say that his latest release is
a poor effort. On the contrary, it is the work of a skilled operator, but
one who works on the margins of conventional popular music. So whilst 'No
Longer My Concern' is unlikely to shift thousands of units, it is likely to
be admired and loved by a significant minority.
Let's be clear on one thing first though. Sheehy does not write
uplifting pop nuggets a la S Club 7 or any of the millions of identikit
boybands. He mines an altogether deeper, darker seam. Recurring themes of
"drinking, fucking and tragedy" mean that this is no walk in the Top 40
park. Indeed it feels slightly odd that Sheehy wrote this collection in the
summer of 2001, given its melancholy character. You would imagine that the
depths of winter would provide his muse rather than the sunny delights of
summer. He even had reservations about actually recording and releasing the
material, due to its unsettling nature. " Some of it is very personal and I
was worried about hurting people and laying myself bare. I've thought many
times since laying it down about scrapping it all....but here it is and I can't
apologise for that." Indeed not, and there would be no need anyway.
Despite its downbeat persuasion, 'No Longer My Concern' still
manages to come across as darkly humorous. Sheehy is an erudite storyteller,
and through his complex but wry lyrics is able to inject a welcome lightness
of touch. In any case, track titles like 'Donkey Ride Straight To Hell' and
'Ballad Of The Pissed Apostle' are weird enough to raise a few chuckles.
The first song on 'No Longer My Concern' is only likely to raise a
grimace however. 'Distracting Yourself From The Doom' is as pompous as the
title suggests, with its melodramatic pianos and vocals strangely
reminiscent of the Beautiful South's Paul Heaton (or is that just me?).
Things pick up soon enough though with the single 'Donkey Ride Straight
To Hell'. Despite its grainy texture, 'Donkey...' boasts a hypnotically
uptempo beat and a workaholic bassline. It stands out by way of its
originality. From here on in only a few numbers disappoint. 'Ballad Of The
Pissed Apostle' plods along painfully, whilst 'Dark Country Moment' is
tainted somewhat by the helium enhanced backing vocals. Happily though, the
good far outweighs the bad.
'Modest Beauty' is beautifully atmospheric, and 'Pretty Little
Bouquets' is a hushed, understated little gem. Sheehy also shows flashes of
sonic invention too. 'Mary, Bloody Mary II' swaggers by on a crunchy
percussive beat that is anything but routine in style. The stand out though
is actually the hidden track, a worthwhile discovery. Slamming, loose limbed
beats are ably assisted by a menacing, roving bass, with Sheehy topping it
all with a vocal delivery of Liam Gallagher-esque nonchalance. It feels out
of place in regard to the other songs but is all the better for it, and
clearly demonstrates the talents Sheehy has at his disposal.
Lacking in killer tunes as it is, this is a good rather than great
album, despite the aforementioned track. Still, if introspective but wry
tales of life and love floats your boat you could do a lot worse. And lets
be honest, it would be rude not to sample an album with a track title
'Donkey Ride Straight To Hell', right?
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