Son of the Hound - Galway Rain
Info: Singer/songwriter Michael McCullagh is a rolling stone. Forever in motion, constantly evolving, his latest guise under the new name 'Son of The Hound' may be the project which sees his restless heart finally tamed. BBC were particularly quick to praise previous single 'Pilgrim' as a "tub-thumping anthem...already poised as a timeless singalong". With new single 'Galway Rain' McCullagh is in a creative overdrive, his newly crafted sound falling somewhere between a maudlin Springsteen and classic Irish folk.
I'm not going to lie, 'Galway Rain' took me completely by surprise as a follow up to last years 'Pilgrim', which had strong contemporary folk leanings with a touch of indie. This new track from McCullagh's only nod to that sound comes in the opening electric guitar riff which is abandoned unceremoniously after 4 seconds. 'Galway Rain' launches deep into 70's Irish folk, The Dubliners and The Clancy Brothers with Mike Scott's Waterboys on drums.
On a personal note it brings me way back to fading childhood memories in Leo's Tavern in Gweedore, Co. Donegal and music I heard elsewhere with my parents. In pubs in the 1980's which had arcade games in the tables, John Player and Benson & Hedges ashtrays, stained beer-mats which strangely smelled pleasantly of malt. As much as smell arouses memory so to has Son of the Hound's latest offering, the Omagh songwriter could be on to something very unique here, a melding of 'Pilgrim' and 'Galway Rain''s sounds could yield very interesting result indeed.
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