Michael McDermott releases two albums on September 13th. It’s worth making the, possibly esoteric, point that even though they come in a single CD sleeve this is two albums – one electric biased, one acoustic biased – rather than a double album.
McDermott is a Chicago based singer-songwriter with a lengthy back catalogue (1991 seems to be his debut album). He grew up listening to Dylan, Guthrie, Odetta, Waits and traditional Irish music; he also grew up listening to The Rolling Stones, The Who Van Morrison and U2. He describes his songwriting as varying between the two traditions “sometimes to great effect and other times a seemingly incoherent array of songs that never find homes on my albums. This time I thought I’d lean into both, make a quiet record and a loud one”. He’s clearly paid his dues in both traditions – both Lighthouse on the Shore (acoustic) and East Jesus (electric) are cracking albums with tracks that grab your attention from the first play of the album, let alone from the dozenth.
Let’s take the albums in turn – and since McDermott started by performing in Chicago coffee houses in the early 1990’s, let’s start with Lighthouse On The Shore. First off (for the purists) it’s not entirely acoustic – there’s electric bass, keyboards, and the occasional flash of electric lead. The vibe, though, is acoustic, whether that be on a track such as ‘Grateful’ or a more soft-rock driven sound on, say, ‘Count Your Blessings’ with its glorious anthemic sing-along chorus.
The opening track, ‘Bradbury Daydream’ is, quite simply, lovely – a love song about a relationship as life comes to an end “I’m gonna dance with you at the end of the world”. The title track, ‘Lighthouse On The Shore’, is another love song, slow but rising and falling like the waves on the shore in the lyrics – McDermott’s voice carries these changes with an emotion of power. The other track I’d highlight on this quieter, more acoustic, album is ‘I Am Not My Father’, a powerful lyric about the changing relationship with a father.
On its own, this would be a splendid album … but you also get East Jesus as the louder more electric album.
Quixotically the album opens with acoustic guitar on ‘FCO’ before the track develops into the kind of full stomping rock track that wouldn’t be out of place on a Gaslight Anthem album. As that reference suggests, I also grew up with both rock and folk music traditions and this juxtaposition of the two albums, with the odd elision of arrangements and styles between them works really well for me. The second track, ‘Berlin at Night’ builds on the rock beat in a song where love is – unsurprisingly – likened to Berlin at nighttime, an image that shouldn’t be dismantled into prose but works rather nicely and develops throughout the song.
‘Quicksand’ is funky; ‘Whose Life I’m living’ is one of the stronger tracks and makes a great finale to the album. ‘Behind the Eight’ rocks – Chuck Berry for the 2020’s – and would be a great predecessor to the title track ‘East Jesus’, which will no doubt become a great anthemic song to play live.
Two albums released on the same day by a musician with a creative duality who’s paid his dues and more than learned his trade. You don’t have to choose between them, you can have both East Jesus and Lighthouse on the Shore in one package – and why wouldn’t you?
If you want to catch him, Michael McDermott is currently touring in the USA.
Mike Wistow
Artist’s website: https://michael-mcdermott.com
‘Berlin At Night’ – official video:
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