Cold Sea by Oisin Leech.

It is a dark and rainy Sunday afternoon here. I don’t think I will be venturing out anywhere today, but that is ok, I am quite content to stay home and listen to some music. I thought I’d tell you about a cd that arrived here a few days ago. It is called Cold Sea by Oisin Leech. You may recall a few years ago I wrote reviews of albums called Trails Of The Lonely and After The Fire, After The Rain by The Lost Brothers. Well, the Lost Brothers were Mark McCausland & Oisin Leech. I hadn’t heard anything from them for quite a while, until a couple of weeks ago a Facebook friend mentioned that Oisin Leech had his own radio series called Caravan Radio on RTE Radio 1 which I listened to and enjoyed immensely. The first episode I heard featured people I have written about on here such as This Is The Kit, Ger Wolfe, and others. When I was singing the praises of this show on Facebook another friend said I would enjoy Oisin’s recent solo album Cold Sea, so I ordered a copy from Music Magpie that very evening, and here we are.

The first thing I thought on opening the package was what an attractive sleeve design the album has. The front and back covers are paintings by Sinead Smyth. I looked her up on the internet and it said that Sinead is an artist from Inishowen - the most northerly peninsula in Donegal. Her paintings explore landscapes and seascapes as places of memory, connection and a nurturing influence on being human. That is very appropriate because to me this album in many ways is a painting in music and words, a soundscape influenced by the beauty of nature. The album was recorded in an old schoolhouse in Malin in which Oisin and producer Steve Gunn set up a temporary studio. I have always associated Malin with the Shipping Forecast which again seems very appropriate because on one track Maritime Radio you can hear a lady reading the forecast. Oisin has assembled some great musicians for this project. As well as doing a great job on production Steve Gunn also plays guitars and synths. Oisin has worked with Tony Garnier on bass before. He is best known as Bob Dylan’s long time bass player.  He has also recorded with M. Ward previously who I have enjoyed listening to since 2006 when a friend gifted me his Post War album. I found it quite coincidental because Steve and M Ward have both cited John Fahey as a big influence, and I have been listening to and writing about John Fahey very recently. (Scroll down if you want to read my piece about John Fahey). The legendary Donal Lunny plays bouzouki on a couple of tracks. Roisin McGrory who like Sinead also hails from Inishowen adds strings to some tracks. The ensemble is completed by Chris Vitalaro on percussion and Alan Comerford slide guitar.

I think the album must have been recorded during the summer because in the sleeve notes Steve mentions swimming in the sea. To me the songs have a very autumnal feel. This obviously applies to the opening track October Sun which has a sparse melancholy lonesome sound. It is a wonderful song, (Please watch the video below). Listening to the words, I was reminded of a Beatles song ‘Sexy Sadie, what have you done? You made a fool of everyone’, but that’s just me. Colour Of The Rain also conveys a sense of loss and the passing of time reminding me that we are entering the days of the leaves. A feeling of sadness runs through One Hill Further. There is a reference to ‘a brother lost his brother’ which might be some tragic event that inspired Oisin to write the song. Steve’s unobtrusive accompaniment is perfect for this atmospheric song which slightly put me in mind of Life In A Northern Town by Dream Academy. 

Maritime Radio is a nice little guitar instrumental featuring the voice of weather girl Deirdre Lowe reading the forecast. I bet she loves this album. I’m not sure what Empire is about, but the guitars sound exquisite. Malin Gales is a bluesy love song featuring Donal Lunny. The title track Cold Sea is a short sweet instrumental displaying Steve Gunn capturing the feel of the cold Atlantic. I hadn’t heard of Trawbeaga Bay before, so looked it up on Wikipedia. It is a small, protected area on the Inishowen Peninsula noted for Barnacle geese, Brent geese, choughs, and all manner of water birds. To me this is one of the outstanding tracks, a beautiful wistful song and wonderful string accompaniment by Roisin. Another atmospheric synth and bouzouki instrumental Daylight brings this most enjoyable album to a close. 

I might be wrong, but I think it is possibly the second shortest album I have ever bought. I remember in 1968 buying Friends by The Beach Boys which was only 25 minutes, So Cold Sea is two minutes longer than that. It doesn’t matter at all because great things often come in small packages, and I have really enjoyed listening to this little gem of an album. I look forward to hearing more music by Oisin Leech in the future.