The Shadow of an Empire
Fionn Regan
Score:82
Reviewer: Steve Scully
Label: Lost Highway (USA), Heavenly (UK), Speak 'n' Spell (Australia)
Reviewed: Mar 18th '10, Released:2010
Fionn Regan, by name alone, is the most celtic man on the planet. His music, however, is a beautiful Midwestern tableau vivant of ailing, self-loathing victims of Evangelical totalitarianism, indulgent protest pieces and troubadour gravity. The journey from his award-winning debut to here is a well-publicised one, and one that makes this album all the more triumphant a return. Like Wilco’s difficult battle with the music industry before belting out a classic in Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Regan has fought his own battles and won. The Shadow of an Empire is a smaller record than YHF in more ways than one, but is a perfect example of how songwriters can transcend cultural, business and personal struggles to create wonderful pieces of popular art.
Dabbling in American mythology (“let’s raise our glasses to Mr Onassis”) and allusions to Guantanamo torture methods (‘Violent Demeanour’), wailing choruses (‘Lord Help My Poor Soul’ is absolutely stunning) and harmonica solos (‘Little Nancy’), Regan embodies the cultural melange of the current music world. Gone are the divides between Eastern and Western, Northern and Southern sounds, and music seems more global than ever. Testament to this is the fact that Regan can act out the anxieties of a modern-day cowboy with more vivid authenticity than any of his vapid American C&W counterparts.
Ryan Adams and Ben Kweller have been purveyors of this similar brand of charm in recent years: the country twang mixed with unabashed literary sensibilities and indie mentality. There’s a lot to be said, though, of Regan’s frugality music-wise. While you could say this long-awaited sophomore record is too-late released, thereby missing the tide of interest that his Mercury Prize-winning debut might have created, he definitely stands out next to these two contemporaries due to the aforementioned two’s overly-prolific songwriting. Regan keeps you waiting and, for those with the patience to wait and the memory strong enough to recall his brilliance, this new record is ample reward.
