Marc Carroll--World On A Wire--St Patrick's Day approaches.....can't remember my own name...

Marc Carroll is a singer songwriter from Dublin whose third album World On A Wire is the focus of this pre-St Patrick's Day post. It is a fairly introspective outing, where Carroll basically goes it alone except for the strings. Though some of the songs are somewhat overly idealistic for my tastes, overall this is an album that is a cut above most. Upon listening to it now for the fourth time it has grown on me.

I was taking a dim view until I got to song four, Together We're Strong with breezy liquid jangle guitar and melodious vocals. I would not have minded if it had been edited down a bit, but overall an excellent song.
Up until then the album had a bit of a muted lethargic feeling to me. I've gone back and softened my opinion upon further listens to this disc.

The follow up to this song is the stripped down piano and cello ballad It Isn't Always Easy.

Isn't it a wonder to find goodwill and grace
You can walk a millions miles and not even see a face
And isn't it a wonder that we ever stayed true
When it isn't always easy to know what to do...

Very nice. Hugh Jones recorded this album so I would be quite surprised if the recording was not pristine. The Dylanesque And You Are? is another poignant tune, musings on the elusiveness of fame. Talk Again is
also a pretty good tune, a brief electric folk musing.

The final song is a very traditional sounding tune, Till These Bars Break, sounding like a tune right out of the Richard Thompson playbook. Carroll appears to be quite the accomplished guitarist in a addition to being a rapidly developing songwriter. When he plays guitar, it is more than merely play by the numbers background accompaniment. Another of my favorites is the consoling solo acoustic tune, Press On. Though too much harmonica tends to get on my nerves, it's inclusion here fits pretty organically.

So all in all, not a bad introspective emotive rainy day album. Maybe not the best suited for leprechaun hats, green beer, and kissing bulldogs--perhaps an album suitable for playing more than one day a year in March.
One of these days I'll have to pick up his latest, The Dust of Rumour which has garnered some positive accolades from the critics. I understand he has a 5th album due out soon. I think Marc Carroll is definitely someone to keep your eye on. Though there are some great tunes on here already, I believe that his best work is still forthcoming.



Note:This song is from the Dust of Rumour album.