SHAMELESS SEAMUS – NO VANS MARY

SHAMELESS SEAMUS – NO VANS MARY

A few months ago, at a place over the mountains (and far from the sea), I came across this fellow; be-hatted he was, dog in tow and mandolin in hand – a traveller to look at no doubt. We were both at a gathering in a country shed – complete with hay bales and stage. That he never made it onto the stage that night is a sad tale in itself, that I ended with this album is more to the point in hand. Shameless Seamus, or Jim Moginie to his family (and many Midnight Oil fans), only recently discovered that his ancestors are Irish Celts (although glances in the mirror have always hinted at this). So guitar in hand Seamus/Moginie wandered off into the Australian bush to explore his Celtic roots and No Vans Mary was born. Far from the power perhaps, but not short on gentle passion, the album sounds very much like a beginning; as Seamus/Jim explores the sounds and thoughts of an Irish culture in a distant land, dislocated but regrowing. Unable to shake his own pop roots, the songs share a joint heritage – 30 years of Australian rock-pop legend meets a burgeoning interest in Celtic beginnings to create the acoustic, folk-pop of No Vans Mary. The further you let these beautifully crafted songs in the more they reveal, and one also suspects that the more Moginie allows Seamus to explore his roots the more we will all benefit. Avalaible only from www.reverberama.com.au

*** 1/2

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