Luke Concanon – Ecstatic Bird in the Burning 
Release Date: Out Now
You may not think you know Luke Concannon
but he’s one of those artists that’s been around a while and just hasn’t got
the acclaim he deserves. As part of Nizlopi he achieved fleeting fame, but he
has gone on to carve out a well-respected solo career as well which brings us
up to today and Concannon’s new 10 track album, ‘Ecstatic Bird in the Burning’.
The collection opens with the
charming ‘Absolument’ which is all double bass thwacking and soulful horns as
well as the call and answer lyrics which make you want to sing along as part of
a lively ensemble. ‘Your Heart is in my Chest’ is up next, showing off Concannon’s
soulful voice as well as his more folky and gentle side alongside the slow
shuffle of the melody and rhythm. On ‘Doing Nothing at All’ takes on the issue
of ennui and procrastination which, in this case, means looking up ex-girlfriends
on Facebook and wondering how Ed Sheeran is doing when you inspired him to make
music and now he is the richest man in Norfolk.
‘The Hummingbird’ is also known as
Kieron’s Jig and features a wonderfully meandering acoustic melody before the
vocals join in with a modern take on the classic English folk song. Things are
altogether more contemporary on ‘Feel You in my Arms’ with a lyrically sad tale
but a delivery that is very much in the Sheeran oeuvre (or is Sheeran in the
Concannon oeuvre?). “There’s a darkness coming round, soon will stalk you round
this town” is the opening couplet from ‘It Won’t Wait’ and he might as well be
singing about COVID-19 as the ominous melody takes you to another time and
place but the rapping brings you back to the here and now, much like Samantics
in full flow.
‘Coventry’ is possibly to first song of that
name but it stands up as a sombre and sorrowful tale set to rich and textured
instrumentation which might just be Concannon’s jam but he’s gonna have to
share it with Jake Morley. Bravely, ‘Denial’ is just the open and honest vocal
of Concannon explore some inner demons before ‘Grow Wild’ treats us to pure
poetry set to gentle acoustic plucking; “Met a lady, jasmin growing through her
hair, we sang the strs, tuning in”.
The final track, ‘Join the Liberation’
is the sound of a man’s soul crying out in the darkest part of the night as he
despairs about the state of the world; “Stop bombing us, stop stabbing us, stop
killing and join the liberation”. Beautiful music, poetry in the lyrics, a
gorgeous voice and themes we can all relate to – what more could you want in an
album?
More information: https://www.facebook.com/lukeconcannonmusic