Dermot Kennedy - Sonder

by Nick Dent-Robinson

published: 19 / 12 / 2022

Label: Island Records
Format: CD

intro

Optmistic second album from chart-topping, one-time Dublin busker Dermot Kennedy

Dermot Kennedy cut his teeth as a busker in his native Dublin. And, given the frequently very high calibre of buskers in that city, this would have been an excellent apprenticeship. Back in 2019, Kennedy's debut album ‘Without Fear’ topped the UK charts. He has now released his follow-up LP, ‘Sonder;, which he describes as “a brighter record” - and it certainly draws from a wide musical palate including electrified rock, auto-tuned R & B and Celtic fiddle. Yet it still retains the street entertainer's knack of connecting on a simple, emotional level. There is plenty of optimism here though there are some darker undercurrents too. ‘Something To Someone’ is a rock number about long distance love, while the vicissitudes of romance loom large on ‘Any Love’, a tribute to an old flame. There are some big arrangements, too - so ‘Sonder’ often sounds like the work of a band rather than a solo singer-songwriter. For example, the Elton John-like ballad ‘Dreamer’ is festooned with fiddles whilst ‘Kill Me’, written with Bastille's Dan Smith and inspired by an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, is a rich dramatic song that his audiences will love when Kennedy tours the UK and Ireland next Spring (starting at Glasgow's OVO Hydra Arena on 31 March, 2023).

Track Listing:-

1 Any Love
2 Something to Someone
3 Kiss Me
4 Dreamer
5 Innocence and Sadness
6 Divide
7 Homeward
8 One Life
9 Better Days
10 Already Gone
11 Blossom

Band Links:-

https://www.dermotkennedy.com/
https://www.facebook.com/dermotkennedymusic
https://twitter.com/DermotKennedy

Label Links:-

http://www.islandrecords.co.uk/
https://twitter.com/islandrecordsuk/
https://www.youtube.com/user/islandrecords/
https://www.facebook.com/IslandRecordsUK/
https://instagram.com/islandrecordsuk/