Reviews
Artist:Niamh Regan Album: Hemet
Label: Black Gate
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.niamhregan.com
Now this is a voice! There is sensitivity, there is silk, there is quirkiness, there is spirit, there is courage, and there is raw power, each showcased in this album of intelligently crafted songs. There will undoubtedly be comparisons to Melanie, Elkie Brooks, Laura Marling and their ilk, but Niamh Regan's voice is special. It's contemporary, it's fresh, and it's one you won't tire of. A great voice is not just about hitting the notes. It's about simplicity and the skill of delivery. As such, it can often be drowned out by accompanying instrumentation and production, but here it is confidently to the fore, and Alex Borwick's production is exquisite.
Billed as her debut album, Regan reveals her true debut album was written at the age of 14, but if you wanted to launch a debut album into the often unforgivingly competitive music world, this is it. Now ask yourself "how many albums open with a clarinet?", and you will begin to understand there is also something different about "Hemet". Both "Freeze Frame" and "Hallalujah" are piano based songs, with a soft piano track to accompany Regan's astonishing voice. These songs are characterised by understated but highly effective production, and just as you think you're in for an album of ballads it opens out into a carefully blended mix of soul, blues, folk, and rock. This is an album that builds, rises and falls in all the right places, and should be appreciated in its entirety.
"How About That Coffee" introduces a subtle brass section and backing vocals in sensitive complement of the lead. "Ode To Youth", with its light club beat, and sonic frills create the atmosphere of a party before the background party effects appear. At this point "Hemet" qualified for a place on my CD rack between Lou Reed and R.E.M. Appropriately enough "Save The Day" sees Regan rocking it like Alanis Morrisette, with an Americana style rock song, bringing to mind its strong link between the traditions of Irish music.
"She Is Your Wife" slows to a more bluesy mood while retaining a light rock touch, and "She's" is Spanish guitar backed with exceptional playing and beautifully placed electronic background effects sitting behind subtle percussion. There is at times an Irish traditional inflection in the lead vocal, duly adorned with BVs that are part spoken, part whispered. "Something So Good" is soulful, piano-accompanied ballad with a singalong, single quality and is my personal pick of the songs on this excellent album. The song has a feel of something The Little Unsaid might produce, and that is high praise indeed.
"Sweetest Drop" is the song where the quality of the playing probably hit me most, and although I have been unable within the time available to find reference to the accompanying musicians, here's to appreciating everyone involved! The song builds very much like an Alanis Morrissette power song, with an occasional playful element in the vocal. "Two Seagulls" has the male BVs on the album, which seems to enhances its quality as a love song. Co-written by her husband Wesley Houdyshell, Regan explains in an interview with IMRO that it's 'a tip of the cap to a place that has given me community, support and inspiration for these songs'. "Worried About You" starts with a stomp gives the closing of the album a power lift. It has a chain gang feel about it, embellished with cleverly placed and synthesised backing vocals. When the song fades to close, the listener is left wanting more.
These are carefully crafted relatively short songs, perfectly ordered to make this a true album experience. Nothing is over-done or over-played, and while comparisons can be useful for the uninitiated, it's important to give Niamh Regan her own merit, and credit for putting together such a wonderful piece of work. When all the tiers and lockdowns come to a most welcome end, this is an artist you should be looking out for in a town or city near you. I certainly will be.
John Reed
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