Martin A.Egan - The Tune

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 8 / 1 / 2012

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Review

The Tune’ is the first release on Slinky Vibe Records, and also marks the recording debut of Irish singer-songwriter Martin Egan. Egan is no stranger to the music world though. He wrote ‘Casey’ for Christy Moore and has worked with Hothouse Flowers amongst others. Apart from his musical talent Egan is a poet and also a painter. His web site www.martinaegan.com provides more details than space permits here and is well worth checking out. ‘The Tune’ consists of eleven Egan original songs, and was co-produced by Egan with Donal Lunny and Al Cowan, both well-respected Irish musicians/ producers. Musically Egan, on ‘The Tune’ at least, is one of those artists who is impossible to pigeon-hole into any one genre. It is refreshing to stumble upon an artist who is obviously not afraid to do things his way and who is actually making new, thought-provoking music. Given his co-producers, his involvement with those other artists and Egan’s Irish background, a certain sound was expected before the album was played, but Egan surprises by never once really sounding like any amalgamation of the people he has worked with in the past. Egan has a distinctive vocal style. Again it’s impossible to compare him to any other singer. He possesses a full, warm voice which sounds like it’s had the rough edges recently smoothed out. It’s one of those voices that you can’t help but be drawn to but can never quite understand why. Egan is not a remarkable singer, but a more than interesting one. He will capture your attention and can go from sounding gutsy and almost raw on the opening ‘Big Things Can Happen’ to showing a more mellow side to his vocals on tracks like ‘I Know’ and ‘My Sweeter Side’. The latter song would be a good introduction to Egan’s work. With its jazzy inflections and laid-back vocals, it’s the perfect summer radio song. Following on from ‘My Sweeter Side’ is ‘Talking to the Wildman’ and it’s moves like this that keep ‘The Tune’ compelling. With music composed by Peter O’Toole, it’s one of a number of songs on the album that has an edgier feel to it. There’s almost a retro feel to the music on ‘The Tune’; some of the songs sound like they could have been lifted from an album recorded back in the seventies while still sounding oddly contemporary. While ‘The Tune’ is an album that demands to be heard in its entirety, special mention must be made of the title song. It’s one of only two songs which share the privilege of having the lyrics printed in the CD booklet and, although a lyric sheet is not required for any song to hear what Egan is singing, it is interesting to read the lyrics to this song in particular without listening to the actual track. Egan wrote a haunting melody for this song that compliments the lyrics and it’s an affecting piece of music. My only criticism is that there is no mention in the album credits for those playing and singing on ‘The Tune’. It would be good to know who supplies the back-up vocals for example and a list of who played which instrument and where would have been nice. That said Egan is obviously aware of this as he admits …”there’s only so much room on an album cover.” ‘The Tune’ covers so much ground and at eleven songs (nine that make up the original album plus two ‘bonus tracks’) it never repeats itself, and it’s one of those albums that actually does reveal something new with every play. It is compelling listening for sure.

Track Listing:-

1 At Rest
2 Welcome to the World
3 Touch
4 This Time Round
5 The Tune
6 Talking To The Wildman
7 My Sweeter Side
8 I Know
9 Nearly Got Glassed
10 Big Things Can Happen
11 Every Punch Needs a Kiss

Band Links:-

http://www.martinaegan.com/
https://twitter.com/gofaw
https://vimeo.com/martinaegan

Label Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/Slinky-Vibe-R