Cormac O Caoimh
Album: The Moon Loses It's Memory
Label: Self Released
Tracks: 14
Website: http://www.cormaco.net

In the booklet that accompanies Cormac O Caiimh's third solo album, "The Moon Loses Its Memory", each set of song lyrics features the art photography of William Crowley, a number of examples of which can be seen on the sleeve. It provides a good reference for Cormac himself as many of the songs pull in a picture on the human condition.

Even when dealing with the darker side of the psyche, Cormac O Caoimh comes across as quite a warm song writer, now admittedly that's partly down to the tone of his voice, but also that there is a mellowness in the instrumentation, there's a noticeable absence of sharp edges. That doesn't mean that his songs can't be disturbing, far from it, "Burning Coal", for example has a relentlessness to it. It's a song that keeps on coming at you, but it's more like an avalanche than a straight drop and that in its self brings a revelation as there is no certainty of a sudden stop at the bottom, you never know, it's something you might survive, though not without feeling battered and bruised.

That is something that sets "The Moon Loses Its Memory" apart from its predecessors, warm and comforting seemed to be universal themes within the reviews, well this is an album that might not feel quite so comforting O Caoimh has definitely added an extra dimension to his songwriting, one that seems to have learnt that comfort can be hand out of darker places, like a writer that discovered that a ghost story can have more impact than a horror story, particularly if the ghost story comes out of misunderstandings that happened for the most honest of reasons.

To use another analogy, this a brew that's stronger than you think, you take in its smooth taste and captivating aromas, before discovering there is more strength/caffeine beneath the surface than you were expecting and it's a bit edgier than you were lead to believe. "The Moon Loses Its Memory" is an album that makes you think more than its predecessors and that's never a bad thing

Neil King