LUKE CONCANNON – ALBUM REVIEW

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

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