Fionn Regan - 'The End Of History' (Bella Union) Released 07/08/06

Hold the front page! There's a new luminary in our midst, well new to this writer. There's artists who come along with a familiarity of song and melody, of tone and timbre as though you've known the artist a good while - such is the case with Fionn Regan. The Irish born mop-topped Fionn delivers a spell-binding, a mesmerising release that captures the essence of early-Dylan's symbolist songwriting by way of Baudelaire, the delicate vocal delivery of Damien Rice/Jose Gonzales, and the classical romanticism of Nick Drake. A work of art then that favours a live analogue production method, 'The End Of History' has pockets full of flowers and hats full of magic from Fionn with his 6-string acoustic guitar and oh so minimal occassional accompaniment.

Opening track 'Be Good Or Begone' makes the listener sit up and take notice with its musings and freshness with a lyrical acoustic guitar, the title providing a chorus like a Samuel Beckett pun. 'The Underwood Typewriter' and 'Hey Rabbit' remind of Dylan at his most fun with his 'Honey Just Allow Me One More Chance' - Fionn's dainty guitar pluckings, lyrical cadences and time changes providing mirth. Standouts include 'Hunters Map' with its solid chords and runaway train rhythm portraying a commandeering artist the way 'Heartbeats' illumines Jose Gonzales' work, brushed drum and cello lend structure to arrangement with Fionn's vocals open and expressive - "...you shake hands with like men/ for an apple on a string..."; another standout being 'Put A Penny In The Slot' - summoning the ghost of early-Dylan with its poetic imagery and verse play proving highly quotable, the acoustic guitar rambling as though sat on a crossed leg with Fionn's musings - "...for the loneliness you foster/ I suggest Paul Auster/ a book called Timbuktu/ put a penny in the slot and watch the drunken sailor boy dance...good company and grief sit like a dock leaf/ sits beside a stinging nettle...".
 
'The Cowshed' shows vocal range with falsetto - "...high strung/ the cat got your tongue..." with a nod towards Damien Rice, and falsetto employed to effect on the imagistic 'Noah (Ghost In A Sheet)' with a beauty like being caught in a snowstorm  - "...there's nobody out there/ its just the noise of the wind... while you were sleeping I/ I played a ghost in a sheet...". Arrangement is uppermost and lyrics strong yet arcane on the fabulous 'Snowy Atlas Mountains', whilst 'The End Of History' proves a curious title track for a debut artist, but the pretense is lost in the arpeggios on a track that blends into the background. Lyrical guitar and piano weave a tapestry on 'Bunker Or Basement', a track that doesn't want to end after the song has been delivered - "...wait your turn/ you always go for the jugular...", a lilting melody to gift wrap this startling debut.

'The End Of History' has a purity of appeal that like Dylan in his youth - it's nigh impossible to conceive of Fionn ever going electric. Stranger things have happened. One for the folky purists then, but one more so for the appreciative ears of the ardent singer-songwriter listener. The world is your oyster Fionn Regan to shuck and devour with a fine and deserved Champagne.