I was listening to some of the individual track submissions we’ve recently received when I came across Charlie O’Brien. One of the songs he had submitted was the traditional Irish song Eileen Aroon, it features on his latest album Where Splendour Falls, it hooked me on first listen. The sparse and ambient sounding arrangement of guitar and piano, the latter played by William Kemp, perfectly compliment O’Brien’s daydreamy sounding vocals. He called to mind Seamus Fogarty‘s critically-acclaimed debut God Damn You Mountain. I feel like I’ve replayed this enough times now to warrant it being our Song of the Day:
Charlie O’ Brien’s songs are often inspired by place and history, they are both personal and social. His music is shot through with strong emotion, lighting up forgotten stories of history, firing valiantly in the dark, illuminating his own juggling’s of music and soul. His songs occupy a quiet, not so trodden region, coming from the world of tradition yet pushing tentatively the creative boundaries of that space.
A glance at his website reveals he has many strings to his bow…narrating the T.V. documentary “Saol John Riely” shown on Irelands TG4 and more recently, he directed and produced another documentary, “A Captain Unafraid.”
From his documentary soundtrack for “A Captain Unafraid,” he submitted The Blue Peaks Of The Trinidad Mountains. An ambient and atmospheric jazz-tinged instrumental piece. The soundtrack was composed by Charlie O’Brien and William Kemp.
According to his website “A Captain Unafraid” is based on the life of Johnny “Dynamite” O’ Brien-a wild and wily seaman who played an integral part in the Cuban War Of Independence. The soundtrack was composed by Charlie and William Kemp and was released in the first months of 2017. Filmed over the last three years in Cuba, Ireland and the U.S. “A Captain Unafraid” hits the film festival circuit in April 2017. Watch the trailer below.
Charlie O’Brien is a name I will be wanting to keep an ear and eye out for. You can keep up with him and order his latest album here:
You can also find more details about his documentary A Captain Unafraid here: www.acaptainunafraid.com