Comus

Well it’s long overdue for me to revamp my review system, no longer will I listen to an album and review it while I’m doing so. I’m going to put a bit more time and effort into each work, since that’s what these albums deserve. I will impose a 500 word limit on myself, and if that still leaves my reviews overlong and rambling I will cut that down by 100 words.


For the record this is regarding the 1996 Fitzcarraldo not the 1995 release.

Managing to do the amazing, the Frames here manage to be gritty and polished, it’s an interesting juxtaposition that definitely do them no harm. The added depth that’s created by adding small segments of rough guitar into a more polished song work very well, especially in Revelate, Monument and In This Boat Together. The whole album plays with a nice ambience that follows you from track to track, interspersed with some really nice guitar solos. The use of layering to create ambience is done very ably throughout and it’s clear that the band know what they can and can’t do. You won’t find anything here that you haven’t heard before, but the mix can be called unique to a point.

The high point of the album for me has to be the title track, the slow song sticks with you, it’s filled with pop sensibility and lovely breaking melodies throughout. The folk influenced instrumental passages that litter this track make it more than just an ordinary hook oriented song. It sticks with you and immediately you want to get to know the song better, simply to enjoy the pleasure of singing along.


At times the album manages to feel very organic and heartfelt, it manages to make up for the apparent lack of experimentation. Emotion is conveyed very well through vocalist Glen Hansard but even better by Dave Odlum’s guitar at times. Some small little licks and solos that seem quite randomly dispersed within the songs have an immense amount of heart and sound simply sublime.

Being only 12 years old now, the album has managed to age quite well, I can’t say that it will continue to age well, it feels very much of this era now but lacks a certain timeless quality. Parts of the album seem undeveloped and it’s obvious that the vocalist can do a lot more than he shows on certain songs and it lets the whole album down. On a more positive note the guitarist is allowed to flourish on certain tracks, on a first listen around it felt very lacking, but now I can see the album is laden with lush guitar parts. Often it’s the subtle guitar playing where Odlum is at his best. At times, as on Say It To Me Now and Monument I get a sense of Irish attitude and swagger, slightly repressed but apparent.


The overall strength of the rhythm section becomes apparent the further into the album you travel, it constantly works to keep the vocals and guitar in line. The overall ambience of the album is driven here by the rhythm section and it’s very much to their credit considering the amount of work Odlum puts in creating his own sound.

Fitzcarraldo is a very solid album, however it lacks masterpiece potential, it would be a valuable addition to any music library. It’s one of the finest recent Irish albums I have heard, it is most certainly a grower, especially the hookier songs like Red Chord get stronger with each listen. Good, not great, and that’s what separates the sevens from the eights.

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