Miraculous Mule
Old Bones, New Fire
Juke Joint 500
2022
Music pulls us in many directions, and Miraculous Mule have been pulled by a seam of music leading directly to Old Bones, New Fire. Michael J. Sheehy describes his Anglo-Irish bandmates, Alex Louise Petty, Patrick McCarthy and Ian Burns, as digging “…African American Gospel, prison/work songs and Hillbilly music,” adding, “Although we are lapsed Catholics, agnostics and non-believers who have tripped and fallen into Hell’s ditch many moons ago, we sincerely believe in the power of this music and how it makes us, and our audience, feel.”
The music definitely makes you feel! “I Know I’ve Been Changed” fervently sets the stage with an arrangement that emphasizes the voices of their three lead singers. Funereal drums provide the accompaniment while Miraculous Mule profess to a sense of change powered by the spirit. It’s a transcendent moment where you realize this will not be like anything you’ve heard before. It’s hard to believe the track (along with two others) had been lying around since 2011 unless the song simply waited until this moment and then demanded to be heard.
The rest of the album comes from a session in 2020, although some recordings were done at home during the pandemic. It really doesn’t matter where or when things were recorded, the music is full of passion, be it blues, gospel or folk. The band digs in and wrings out the passion that made these songs classics regardless of the genre. The vocal arrangement of “O Death” features Petty, who wrenches emotion out of every pore against a haunting backing.
The character at the heart of “You Got To Take Sick And Die” takes on a more bluesy-country feel, but the song is cut from a similar cloth. It churns as it tells you, “Fall down on your knees/ Crying for that mercy please/ You got to take sick and die one of these days.” It’s one of those moments when you realize there’s no escape for any of us. Combining the percussive urgency of Nina Simone’s version with a slightly folkier feel, “Sinnerman” is still entirely combustive. The song never seems to let up, the intensity building with each chorus of “Power.” This is music that has shaped and continues to shape new generations.
Miraculous Mule have taken these songs and illustrated feelings that matter. The songs on Old Bones, New Fire continue to burn brightly with performances that capture the zeal that continues to live inside the best material.
Old Bones, New Fire is released on 12 August 2022)