Average Singer-Songwriter Material
I just received Damien Rice's new album and I never really liked the fella before, but now I can see why he's usually picked above the rest in the fledging world of poppy singer-songwriters, because he's eminently better, that's why. Ah, but Kieran Docherty's OK...
He's OK, indeed, he sounds a little like David Gray or James Blunt chasing the sound of Nick Drake or Jeff Buckley and naturally you're left with a watered-down, over-produced, multi-instrumentalised piecemeal product. But that's what the majority of people like in the here and now; the middling parents and their middling kids, that's where the sales are... Cynical? Bah, so what? If you're going to Scotland for a singer-songwriter, go to Grant Campbell before you come here, if you want something with a soul to it that is, otherwise 'She's a river, doo bee doo bee doo...' (and it's a not a Simple Minds cover, disappointingly!) Ho hum.