RICH McMAHON – Songs Of Exile, Love & Dissent (Knotted Oak Productions KOAK006)

SOELDThe name of Gerry Diver on an album will always provoke a reaction. I have to say that sometimes it is one of bemusement, other times one of great enthusiasm. There is rarely a middle ground. Gerry produced Songs Of Exile, Love & Dissent and plays everything except Rich’s guitar and harmonica and the cello on ‘Beauty All Around’. At first, you’d say that he hasn’t had a huge impact – this is an album by a singer/songwriter/guitarist first and foremost – but then you realise how wrong you were.

Rich McMahon is English-born but raised in Ireland and is now living back in the UK and much of his writing reflects the dichotomy of his background. Indeed, two of the songs here, ‘The Imagined Nation’ and ‘Beyond Borders’, have been the themes of multi-media shows. ‘Inbetweenland’ reflects on the situation of both immigrants and emigrants – people who are “neither one thing or the other but something in between”. Its tune and the use of the harmonica remind me irresistibly of ‘Lily, Rosemary And The Jack Of Hearts’. ‘The Pearl’ is a metaphor for the longing we all feel sometimes to be somewhere else only to find that where we are is where we should be.

That isn’t his only preoccupation. ‘The Barman’s Tale’ is a complex song about the decline of the pub trade but also a commentary on modern life while ‘My Beautiful Broken Guitar’ will cause pain in the soul of every player.

Diver’s musical contributions are immense but always supportive, whether it is grumbling piano, grand strings, slide guitar or percussion making this a very rich album. Please excuse the pun.

Dai Jeffries

Artist’s website: http://www.richmcmahon.com/

‘Beyond Borders’ – the official video: