Reviews
Fionn Regan
The End of History
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Add to del.ico.us.Review Date: 2007-09-06
There’s a strange paradox in being called “the next XXX” or “the new XXX”. On the one hand, how can you live up to the person who you’re meant to be the successor to, but on the other, you know you must be pretty good if you’re getting compared to some living legend. Unless you’re the new Pauly Shore, of course. Fionn Regan is supposedly the new Bob Dylan. I read that somewhere. It must be true. Isn’t everything you read true. Disclaimer: Everything contained in this review is true and has been carefully researched by our dedicated TWM research team.
According to wikipedia, Fionn Regan is pronounced FYUHN REE-guhn. That line has now been removed from the page, but can still be found if you Google his name. Although this has nothing to do with the album, I just want to ask how does anyone pronounce that? Fee-uh-n? Impossible. (Being Irish I know the correct way to pronounce it, but it’s funny hearing you try to do the same, so I’m not going to tell you what the correct pronunciation is.)
To call anyone the new Bob Dylan is a bit of a stretch, but you can see where they’re coming from. Of course he’s not a patch on Dylan, but the music is good storytelling, and better singing. The songs aren’t a patch on those classic Dylan, but they’re decent enough. Not many people would sing “With a loneliness that you foster, I suggest Paul Auster”. It’s all acoustic storytelling stuff, and may not be varied enough for most listeners. But beneath all that fingerpicking and plucking there’s some melodic gentle beauty. And with a new James Blunt record out in two weeks, isn’t that what you want in contrast.
There’s no bombast or pomposity here, but understated beauty. Could you imagine that cockney rhyming slang for c*** singing “Hey badger you're punches out / your mouth is around an aerosol can / Well they want you to sink, but you stood up an swam / Ideas are like sparrows / they dart down the hall, the chimney and out of the spout / down a worm hole and back up my mouth” Yes, I have no idea what it’s about either, but there’s no way Blunt’s record label would allow anything this absurd to be released.
Regan has a thing which many singer-songwriters don’t: a sense of humour, and a childlike innocence which gives his songs a bouncy, fun quality. Listen to ‘Put a Penny In The Slot’ or ‘Bunker or Basement’ if you don’t believe me. Actually, listen to the whole thing. But don’t blame me if you find it boring. Yes, that’s what I heard someone say about this album. Well, if you do find it boring, I hear James Blunt has a very interesting album coming out shortly…
Tracks to Hear: ‘Bunker or Basement’, ‘Be Good or Be Gone’, ‘Hunter’s Map’, ‘Black Water Child’
Score: 7.7
The album just lost out to the Klaxons for the Mercury Prize, which is no shock. They always go for the better known artists rather than the underappreciated talent. Maybe next time around.
- Ronan Hunt-Murphy