Damien’s having his moment in sun
He may be friends with a host of big names, but...
There are many reasons why Damien Dempsey has been one of Ireland’s favourite performers for nearly 15 years. He sings rousing, socially aware songs delivered with passion. He is a man who sticks to his principles and isn’t afraid to go against the grain, to swim against the tide of opinion. Soulsun, his first album of totally original material since 2012, may attract attention because of duets with three female vocalists: Dido, Imelda May, and Kerry singer and TV presenter Pauline Scanlon. However, his strongly held, sometimes controversial beliefs in relation to certain subjects still inspire him as much as ever before. Take the title track, which he freely admits deals with overcoming periods spent ‘in a dark place’ – and it seems he differs from prevailing attitudes on the solution to this.
‘I think collectively there is a depression in this country. We haven’t dealt with how we were oppressed collectively as a nation and individually,’ he says.
‘Sure, you can talk about stuff getting you down but sometimes you just need something more to help you cope. There are natural remedies for feeling down like 5HTP, which is banned here but I can pick up in London.’
He goes on to say that successive Irish governments have banned these remedies to please big pharmaceutical companies.
‘It sickens me. It drives me crazy,’ he says.
He also says that ‘countries all over the world have stopped putting fluoride in the water supply’ – alleging that this is ‘because they know that it is just a toxic by-product of fertilisers’. ‘But we pump it into our water. That makes me angry too,’ he adds.
He also wasn’t too enamoured with the State’s Centenary celebrations of the Easter Rising. Last year, he released a very limitededition album called No Force On Earth containing standards such as James Connolly and original songs about forgotten participants in the Rising.
Back in the here and now, the track Simple Faith, from Soulsun, is motivated by a desire for people to look beyond the headlines to find out what is really happening in the world. ‘We could listen to Robert Fisk and understand,’ he sings, name-checking the highly respected British journalist.
‘I was talking about the Middle East but thinking of other places too,’ he says. ‘He [Fisk] is one of the voices in the wilderness who will tell you what’s really going on. I’m asking people not to rely on Sky News and Fox to tell them the truth about what’s happening in the world.’
Whether you agree with him or not, you’ve got to admire someone who seeks out a more rounded understanding of global events and writes about them. He could just pen love songs. Had he done so, perhaps Morrissey might not have become as big a fan and consistent champion. Nor Sinéad O’Connor, Christy Moore and a host of others, including Imelda May, Annie Lennox and Dido. Big names seem drawn to the Irish singer; since moving to London, Damien has been hanging out with the legendary Brian Eno.
‘I sometimes go walking in Hyde Park with John [Reynolds, Damien’s producer] and Brian,’ he says. ‘Brian likes to have people around to his flat on a Tuesday night in Notting Hill. He invited me along one night. I walked in and there was about 10 people there. Annie Lennox was there and Dido was there too. On a big screen the words of certain songs would come up. The music would play and we would try to do mad harmonies together.’
Like superstar karaoke, I suggest.
‘Yeah, something like that,’ he laughs. ‘Annie Lennox told me she was a big fan of [Dempsey’s second album] Seize The Day. It’s not the kind of thing you expect someone like her to say. I got talking to Dido and she said: “I love your song You’re Not On Your Own Tonight.” I was really taken aback and told her I was a huge fan of her singing too. I thought about her when it came to recording the song Beside The Sea. We felt a female voice would sound great on it and we rang Dido and she said she’d love to do it.’
Dido, who has Irish ancestral connections, returned to recording action in 2013 but has been quiet since. ‘I think she became disillusioned with the music business. I think when you get to that level of fame there’s a lot of sharks circling,’ Damien says.
However, the Dubliner, now in his early 40s, still feels blessed.
‘I still love this,’ he says. ‘My family are all in the motor trade. They’re panel beaters and mechanics. I sometimes go down to see them in the garage. In the winter they’re lying on their backs on freezing concrete floors. I’m freezing just going down there for an hour to them. They’re there seven days a week, all year round with the dirt and exhaust fumes. I get to do this and I love it.’
Damien Dempsey’s album ‘Soulsun’ has just been released on Sony. He plays Dublin’s Iveagh Gardens on July 21.
‘I’m asking people not to rely on Sky News and Fox to tell them the truth about what’s happening’