23-12-2009Album reviews - Bap Kennedy

Sounds of summer

Just in time for summer, Bap Kennedy arrives with the highly anticipated follow up to The Big Picture (Loose Records, 2005). Will it refresh and invigorate, or burn our ears in ways even camomile lotion can't fix?

Released on July 20th via Lonely Street Discs, Kennedy's seventh solo studio offering - Howl On - is a love letter to Americana, aptly built around his re-working of the Hendrix popularised rock staple Hey Joe. While this version serves the narrative and desperation of the song more realistically, it is not the finest work in the collection. That accolade goes to the poignant Ballad of Neil Armstrong " an emotional tune which opens up the bravest of achievements to simple vulnerabilities. Thankfully the composer able to share of his own, fusing each chord with an empathetic heart.
Stopping well short of concept album territory, Howl On manages to go further in a different direction. A number of the tracks feel jarringly like what history lessons should have been at school: the human element of great, life-shaping moments. It is an organic product, and as such you may need to develop a taste for it - but it would be a disservice to rob from potential listeners the joy of discovering meanings and nuances for themselves.

With many years gone since Bap flew to renown as a member of Energy Orchard, the recent past saw him relocate once more - this time back to Ireland. Upon his arrival, border control officials must have been taken aback by both his assurance and maturity - as well as his transformation into a cowboy Jack Johnson... complete with more interesting stories, better told. If the heat-haze of a sleepy arid landscape appeals more than a Hawaiian cabana, this could well be the record for you. While the sound isn't aggressively panoramic or intense, it nevertheless cocoons the listener - setting the scene and heightening the mood.

How long will you spend with Howl On? That depends. Personally, I can only equate it to a warm afternoon spent drinking beer in the garden. Eventually, if you persevere, you'll start to feel drained -- but in a somewhat liberating way.