Even a pandemic cannot slow prolific singer/songwriter down
Groove Tube with Cian O’Connell
In announcing the release of his third album in five years, multi-instrumentalist Jim McHugh has further established himself as one of Ireland’s most prolific singer-songwriters. Having flitted between minimalist acoustic folk and noisier, guitar-heavy ballads on his previous releases, he has embraced the impact of a full band on his latest project. The eight-track LP, Pretending to Wake Up, is set for release on May 28.
This week, on February 5, the first single from that album will be available for public consumption.
Dave is a rhythmic, funk-rock piece indicative of the style and mood that rolls throughout the album. The instrumental is dizzy and upbeat – the vocals flow smoothly around humming guitar and bass lines. It’s a refined rock song and it emphasises the cohesion of the group.
“The song came out really from the chorus,” Jim recalls. “When we were jamming it, I came out with ‘Dave’ and I thought about this Dave that I used to hang around that fell foul of the law on a few occasions. I obviously elaborated on that a little bit more.
“It’s primarily based around the guitar riff and it just all came out then. It’s a fun song and even the term ‘Dave’ is a bit of a joke among us... We’d always say ‘What about Dave?’ and I was kind of thinking of The Life of Brian as well in terms of why they picked the name Brian. It’s the same kind of thing.”
The Monaghan native took advantage of the limited time between lockdowns to hone the songs on the album with his band.
This project captures a specific moment in time and collectively, the songs work perfectly as one body of work. Having cut certain songs from the final track list, Jim ensured that every song on Pretending to Wake Up warrants its inclusion on the project.
“My previous albums are a mix between acoustic and electric songs but this album is a full band sound throughout,” he notes.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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