Today I will briefly discuss this man and album I recently (re)discovered. Declan de Barra used to be the central member of the now defunct Melbrunian group called Clann Zú. Chances are, that name won't say you much, but I can safely say the 2004 Black Coats & Bandages will stay up there as one of the most creative emotive album I ever will have come about. Song of a Thousand Birds was actually released on the same year so CZ was very much alive at the time of its conception (Wikipedia marks the band's end to 2005). As such, the two outlets are hardly alike (though Declan's handwriting is distinctly present in both cases) and the album is pretty straightforwardly acoustic. Lyrically, likewise, Declan has takes a more mellow approach, but the shift is also for a more personal experience; the album's political songs (such as Welcome & Curfew) are now firmly rooted in Ireland's context, though you won't be hearing any Gaelic this time and that's sincerely a loss. I do miss the fervour of, say, One Bedroom Apartment but the subtlety can ultimately win you over. I'd say that the emotional palette has also expanded somewhat culminating with the afore-mentioned Welcome in its hopeless naivety but the core emotion pretty much remains the same, one which I think best reflects in Blackbird Song.
In short I hope Declan de Barra profits incredible future success in his musical endeavors. There is hardly another voice in Ireland quite like that.
