Click here for reviews of The Driftwood Manor - "The Same Figure (Leaving)" The Driftwood Manor "Holy Ghost"
So now we need something succinct, and it comes in the form of a six-track 3" CD
by THE DRIFTWOOD MANOR, Holy Ghost (Rusted Rail). Heavy buzz and hum here is offset
by full, sincere mandolin and banjo; there's some sparkling playing on this, with
a particularly strong fiddle. It's a welcoming album but thankfully without an
eager-to-please desperation. 'I Would Lose You Still' is the standout track for me,
and it shows off this CD's accessibility without compromising on the originality.
Six tracks squeezed onto this teenie weenie disc, all bursting with passion and mourning from Eddie Keenan who sings,
plays guitars and bouzouki, and all very well too may I add. With tracks like 'Bury Me Alive', 'Gone Devil',
'I would Lose You Still' and 'The Devil Is My Brother'; it's apparent that this isn't one to rock a party.
So instead get a decent single malt in, put those tired feet up and sip away to the sound of one man's inner-mind
as he performs a classy selection of morbid folk/ blues.
This time around we get six tracks, pretty much in the same style but all with a power of
their own. Therein lies the strength of Keenan's songwriting: the ability to come up with
quite a number of songs in a coherent style that manage to be good enough in their own
right to command the listener's attention. Particular attention must go to the superb
"Bury Me Alive", a song with a strong dose of ballad and spiritual influence, sounding
like it could come straight from some countryside church in the American (or Irish?) outback.
But really, all the other tracks are simply strong as well; Holy Ghost is solid until
the end.
"Holy Ghost" a 3" cd from The Driftwood manor, featuring six short tracks that overflow with a sweet folk feel, that heady mix of sadness
and melody, all topped off with the wonderful voice of Eddie Keenan. Mixing the sinister with the beautiful, the lyrics of
"Bury Me Alive" are at odds with the sweetness of the tune, whilst "I Would Lose You Still" is aching in its sadness yet completely beautiful.
Driftwood Manor are based around the songwriting talents of Eddie Keenan and backed on this release by Neil Fitzgibbon
on fiddle, Anne Marie Hynes on additional vocals, Bean Dolan on double bass and Steve Fanagan on accordion and percussion. The influence of
Appalachian folk is clear but Eddie's treatment of the form is similar to Alasdair Robert's response to Scottish traditional folk forms. Lovely.
Eddie Keenan - The Driftwood Manor lead man who sings, plays guitars and bouzouki has done a phenomenal job
by artfully crafting this set of songs with a slight touch of appalachian folk and psychedelic background making
it sound more austere and gentle at the same time. The timbre of his voice is delivering a woeful mystery. Backed
by by Neil Fitzgibbon on fiddle, Anne Marie Hynes on additional vocals, Bean Dolan on double bass and Steve Fanagan
on accordion and percussion the story is getting more and more ethereal and un-obvious impervious squeeze of
multilayered work assembled at Steve Fangan's home studio. The texts yet full of thin existential spider's web fit
the climax so well. And again Eddie's voice is delivering...To some extent the material finely packaged in a small
stamped envelope is way beyond the labels of folk and avant-pop hugely because of the intimacy you get by listening to
it...
Costituitisi intorno al cantautore e polistrumentista Eddie Keenan, The Driftwood Manor rappresentano l'ennesimo
esempio di collettivo avant-folk di recente ricorrente con frequenza, in particolare in Irlanda. Ed è proprio
la "specialista" irlandese Rusted Rail a dare alle stampe il loro Ep "Holy Ghost", che segue di
un paio d'anni il debutto autoprodotto "A Gathering". |