Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The revolution will not be screened, nor will it be probably felt across the board for years to come, however in the lush green lands of New England, in the corner of the world where the yoke of oppression first found a opponent whose anger was enough to strike out, the revolution will be heard and it will be dynamic as James Houlahan releases his third album, Multitudes.
The masses will always be eventually heard, for without the music that runs through the veins of the people that matter, the listeners, those who take note of the stirrings of upheaval and the mutiny in the heart, then humanity is doomed to stagnate, to rot in the fires of its own selfish destruction and waste of potential ideas; it is the ideas and background of an artist that flow with generous application and longing throughout Multitudes, a yearning for something that doesn’t make itself known until the moment it hits home that all human experience can be felt through empathy and not necessarily through action.
The appropriate time for the album to be released after the success of Mr. Houlahan’s debut album Seven Years Now, the fitting response built upon sound imagination and human endeavour, coupled with a feeling of a new type of American Folk, one built upon a home sensual lyricism and poetic drama, is exhilarating and a cool breeze in an desert suffering in the intensity of modern living.
In tracks such as The Rogue Heart, Mystery Earth Song, Rock Star, dedicated beautifully to the ruined heroes of Sunset Strip, and the feeling of enigmatic release in Home, James Houlahan doesn’t just ring the New England bell proclaiming a new sense of liberty, he becomes the living embodiment of a breed of musician who seems to sense there is something beyond the self imposed veil that has long covered our eyes, that has made us blind and groping in the dark for a sense of relief; it is a relief that captures the spirit with a smile and graceful poise.
A multitude of songs lovingly released in the world, James Houlahan’s sensitive and inspiring songs are not just to be seen as separate entities but as hope springing forth.
James Houlahan’s Multitudes is released in spring 2016.
Ian D. Hall