Adrian Crowley and Matthew Nolan – Pomes Penyeach – Album Review
by Killian Laher

Adrian Crowley and Matthew Nolan have come together to create an album of James Joyce’s poetry put to music, inspired by his words.  The collaboration starts with the eerie sounding Alone, the music whines into gear, before Crowley and Lisa Hannigan’s voices combine over gentle guitar and all manner of keyboard and other instruments.  Watching the Needleboats has Hannigan on spooked-out lead vocals.  There are a number of very effective mood-setting pieces.  Cabra sees Crowley intoning in French, a trick he repeats later on Tilly before handing over to Hannigan as cellos swoop in and out.

Lisa Hannigan’s turns on lead vocals are very effective. On the Beach in Fontana, A Flower Given to My Daughter, and She Weeps Over Rahoon are Adrian Crowley-type songs sung by Hannigan over Matthew Nolan’s moody instrumentation.  Crowley’s doomy, teak black vocal over picked guitar on Tutto é Sciolto is a highlight as ghostly backing vocals swoop in and out.  For those who like Adrian Crowley at his most stripped down, Simples is classic Crowley with gorgeous spare instrumentation, picked guitar, a touch of cello and bass, a gentle backing vocal from Lisa Hannigan… and not much else.  And it works really well, as does his agreeable mumbling on the dramatic Nightpiece.

Cello introduces the fine dark ballad A Memory of the Players in a Mirror at Midnight, which sees Hannigan take lead vocals once again, as she does to great effect on moody piano piece Flood and the downbeat Bahnhofstrasse, joined intermittently by Crowley.  The final track, A Prayer has Adrian Crowley reciting Joyce’s poetry over doom-laden piano.

It’s definitely not an album for everyone, and fans of the artists involved may struggle to get their heads around it initially, but it’s great to see all involved push themselves in new directions.  It’s available from Claddagh Records

Alone