In which the resident lead guitarist of The Undertones, and the former member of That Petrol Emotion and The Everlasting Yeah – cracking guitar bands each – delivers an album not full of catchy guitar riffs, hooks and snags but of tautly prepared cinematic instrumentals.
Across the album’s 11 tracks an impressively broad range of instruments are employed: from guitars, melodica, kalimba and toy marimba to mandolin, glockenspiel, squeeze box, bells and vibraphone, O’Neill not only sidelines the perception of him as a nifty lead guitarist but also implants the notion of him as a musician you might want to ask over for a get-together if you ever needed a multi-multi-instrumentalist to keep the party atmosphere going.
The music, meanwhile, is a geographical smorgasbord that highlights intuitive knowledge of American, Asian, French and Irish folk/traditional influences.
Indeed, from the album name to tracks titled Manannán Mac Lir, Malin Head Imminent, A Quare Visitation (Belfast ‘65), Lament for Loughlinisland, Tune for the Derry Ones, and Más O Menos, O’Neill has made a meaningful decision to highlight his Irishness. While the likes of Malin Head Imminent and A Quare Visitation (Belfast ‘65) hark back to his childhood, other tracks such as Tune for the Derry Ones and Lament for Loughlinisland, evoke a firmer, somewhat more politicised worldview.
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The upshot is a collection of consummately played music from a highly skilled if modest pro.
