It’s mad how many great folk musicians tend to crop up in Co. Wexford – from Susan O’Neill to Emma Langford, Basciville, Callum Orr, and now The Ocelots (twins Ashley and Brandon Watson). Produced by Cillian and Lorcan Byrne (Basciville), Everything, When Said Slowly is a bittersweet, anthemic affair.
Their sound has a distinct nostalgia – reminiscent of Fleet Foxes or The Thrills, with Lorcan Byrne’s salient groove lifting the whole thing ever so slightly. On the other hand on the acoustic Started to Wonder, their retro-sounding harmonies evoke that 60’s sound of The Mamas and the Papas, Crosby, Stills and Nash – with a touch of Little Green Cars.
The album begins with a coastal, Wexford-y feel – the songs edged against the sea. The Lighthouse is premonitory, a precipice of sorts: ‘Where the waves are crashing down / In a coastal town / Shadows of the old playground‘. Here is a band harbouring loss – just as they take flight.
Their album single, The Good of a Bad Year is beautifully polished – with quirky, warming harmonies. Their accompanying video with the backwards playing of a piano along side a harmonica adds just the right amount of silliness to proceedings. Australia, which touches on Irish migration, is pricklier, as though emerging from a painful breakup: ‘words don’t hurt, only when they are spoken‘. The catchy refrain is cathartic: ‘Hurts to stick around / runaway to Australia / hate to stick in town / just to say that I failed you‘. This one will have audiences singing along at festivals this summer.
Throughout the album, their rich, open harmonies also belie something darker in the lyrics, arguably allowing space for more emotional depth; The Beatles come to mind here – that streak of nihilism in a major key. Front Door Key feels quite fun until we hear: ‘You didn’t pick up / I slept in the backyard with the dog‘. The tone evokes Paul McCartney singing ‘When I’m 64’, or ‘Fixing a Hole’.
The record ends as it began: on a misty coastline, the brink of a fresh sound, a new phase. Invisible Cities echoes The Lighthouse for its urban transience: ‘The streets of cities that I knew / It seems the ones I can’t see / I’m still passing through‘. The new terrain presents as perpetual blindness – a liminal fog.
Everything, When Said Slowly is a joy to listen to—a haunting and majestic album.
Everything, When Said Slowly (7th February 2025) Self Released
Pre-Save: https://slinky.to/EverythingWhenSaidSlowly
Vinyl: https://www.roughtrade.com/en-gb/product/the-ocelots/everything-when-said-slowly