On 25th November, Dimple Discs is proud to announce the long-awaited third solo album, an crann, from The Undertones guitarist Damian O’Neill on limited edition blue vinyl and CD.
The album is an exquisitely inventive collection of largely instrumental tracks, mixed by veteran producer Paul Tipler (Stereolab, Placebo, Julian Cope, House Of Love).
The title “an crann” is Irish for “The Tree”, a symbol of growth and inspiration. As Damian himself explains…”If someone listened to this record without knowing anything about me, they’d probably never guess that I started life in a punk band. I unashamedly wanted to present instrumental pieces that are emotional, evocative and personal and offer to the listener textures and layers of music that can be melodic, childlike and even melancholic at times. There’s obviously Irish folk traditional influences as well as French, Japanese, American and British. I’m playing virtually all the instruments myself, with added percussion on a couple of songs. It was recorded mainly at home over the last couple of years in the loft of our house on a laptop with an array of instruments such as electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, bass, organ, vibraphone, toy marimba and glockenspiel, melodica, mouth organ, squeezebox, kalimba, bells and various percussion and human voices.”
Watch the beautiful video for the lead track Malin Head Imminent , made by visual artist Marry Waterson here:
Malin Head Imminent is a “reference to memories of childhood holidays in Donegal.” and “Great things can happen when you mess with the standard tuning on a guitar. In this case, I came up with the main riff and built layers around it. My favourite bit is the middle 8 where me and my wife Viv do the ‘ahhs’, which is influenced by Japanese composer Nobukazu Takemura’s track ‘Pendulum'” Damian.
To pre-order / pre stream an crann and get the first track “Más O Menos” as an instant download go to: https://ffm.to/damianoneill
To celebrate the release of an crann, there will be a unique album listening party at The Social in London on 6th November with Damian in conversation Ann Scanlon and the album being played for the first time in public. Tickets for this event are available from http://damianoneill.bandcamp.com and include options to purchase signed CDs and vinyl albums
an crann track listing:
01. Más O Menos
02. Malin Head Imminent
03. Tune for the Derry Ones
04. A Quare Visitation (Belfast ’65)
05. Lament for Loughlinisland
06. La Tengo
07. Manannán mac Lir
08. New Loft Trio
09. Waltz (Interlude)
10. We Want The Wesleys
11. Round and Round
DIMPLE DISCS
CD/ DEEDEE021CD/£7.95
LP/ DEEDEE021LP/ £14.50
