Album – Strawberry Blood, Mundy

Posted on 28th Apr 09 by Stephen O Rowe | 0

A long five years have passed since Mundy‘s last studio album, with only a greatest hits compilation Live and Confusion in between. So naturally a lot hangs in the balance of Strawberry Blood. Being a fan of the Offaly man’s previous albums, I was energised at the prospect of catching up but the album lost appeal by the third song. Apart from the odd lift, it proved to be a disappointment.

It sounds like a debut album from a new act, inexperienced and messy. Mundy’s been around long enough with some great albums, so what’s up with this average display of lazy creativity? Its not very bad, just definitely bland. There’s a lack of thought  in the lyrics, they seem childlike and naive, for example Well if January is Blue How Blue are You? Now I’m not a man who takes lyrics at face value but come on…a bit of effort please!  Its all very un-Mundy.

The first track Waiting For The Night To Come opens with a good introduction…30 seconds later it starts to dip and lose its hook and by halfway I got an urge to skip ahead.
Pogues man Shane MacGowan sings along with Mundy on Love is a Casino, which shows the makings of a good tune – except MacGowan‘s old gargle isn’t really appropriate and makes the track come off worse. Perhaps one Mundy would have been better off left alone with.

It’s not all bad though; Gemma Hayes sings along gracefully on Fever, my favourite on the album with a clever structure and melody, a hint of what Mundy still has in him.
Going on with some nice chord progressions, hardly never-heard-before stuff, still the same Mundy, Head Over Heels and Waiting For the Night To Come, although not fantastic, are more welcome. The one to look out for is title track Strawberry Blood which alone brings the album up the ladder and retains your faith in Mundy‘s writing ability.
Credit where credit’s due – angles and order for instrument arrangements and to producer Joe Chester who made a respectable job of what he had.

If you’re fanatic then you’re bound to get your Mundy fix from Strawberry Blood but expect some staleness. I doubt I’ll be blasting it through my speakers any time soon.

Rating: 3.7/10

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