Review Fix chats with singer/songwriter Ultan Conlon, who discusses his new album,â€Songs Of Love So Cruel.†With over two decades of writing and recording his own material, Conlon has been compared to Roy Orbison and has shared the stage with the likes of John Grant, Eddi Reader, Patty Griffin and Richard Hawley, Ultan has also performed duets with Glen Hansard and John Martyn.
For more on Conlon and his tunes, click here.
Review Fix: What makes this album a special one for you?
Ultan Conlon: It was a while in conception. I thought of the title and only had one song but a vision for the rest of the album. I wanted it to be a cohesive piece of work. Unlike my first album which was a mixture of songs I’d written over about six or seven years.
Review Fix: How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you?
Conlon: Ha, that’s a good question. I always tell them ‘I’ve gotta come up with an answer for that!’ People usually expect it to be Irish folk. It’s singer songwriter in the classic sense, I feel.
Review Fix: How important do you feel Irish music is to the mainstream? Why?
Conlon: I think Irish musicians and songwriters have a lot to offer on the international scene. Especially songwriters. We’re a nation that comes from a long line of story tellers, also it rains so much you can’t
leave the house. Perfect for songwriting.
Review Fix: How does it feel to be compared to Roy Orbison?
Conlon: A reviewer made that comparison. It’s a great honour to have his name attached to a review, he could go a couple more octaves than me for sure but I’ll take the compliment nonetheless, haha.
Review Fix: Who’s an artist that inspired you that people wouldn’t expect based on your sound?
Conlon: To be honest anyone who inspires me to write these songs there’s usually a similar sound or feel there. I think that’s where the Roy Orbison comparison came from. It’s more a feel thing really. I was listening to a lot of music from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s when I wrote these songs. I wanted to capture that era but with the songs rooted in this time. I didn’t live back then so I can’t write about that era.
Review Fix: What are your goals for this album?
Conlon: I think the ultimate goal is to reach as wide an audience as possible. I’m guessing most artists would say the same thing. It’s always lovely when someone connects with an album, not just a track. Although for obvious reasons that doesn’t happen as much. Thanks to the shuffle option, ha.
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