Wake Up to Jim’s talent..

Jim Mchugh burst into our consciousness a few months back with with the single Dave – an unsettling number that starts with a sleazy guitar riff and slightly sinister, whispered vocal. It gets heavier and at times even more sinister, but it’s perfect for a cautionary tale such as this. As Jim (circled) explained: “It’s an original story of misspent youth. Dave unveils my interactions with a friend who was known for being on the wrong side of the law on numerous occasions.” Now, with new album Pretending To Wake Up slated for release next month the Monaghan singer-songwriter shows us different sides to his craft. So for every out and out rocker like Dave there are downbeat indie numbers such as Shut Your Mouth or Hey Jimbo with its sort-of shuffling and strangely jazzy chord changes (as played, perhaps, by VU). It’s an oddly satisfying confection, propelled by muscular, if fey, work by his assembled band of Paul Mccabe on bass, Paul Sherry on electric guitar and Butch Mcneill on drums. But it’s perhaps on tender moments like Her Love with its delicate staccato guitars, nodding to The Police, in which Mchugh reveals most about himself. He allows his voice to drift into falsetto before really letting go in a soaring crescendo. “We’ll fly together,” he sings over and over and you have to believe him. Mccabe is no youngster and it shows in the maturity of his songwriting and the breadth of styles from which he takes inspiration. There are hints of Bowie in his voice, nods to grunge and at times even to the sparse, almost spoken word, rock of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. It all adds to the completeness of the album, though just eight songs in total, and makes for an engaging listen – again and again.