The stars are god's bullet holes
John Murry
Keywords
Reviews (4)
The guardian
d. 9. July 2021
By
By
Jude Rogers
d. 9. July 2021
"Folk album of the month" - "Human experience burns ferociously on this extraordinary debut from the uncompromising Irish artist John Francis Flynn, stalwart of Dublin traditional group Skipper's Alley. He has a voice like old leather, blunt yet sincere, holding his notes like bagpipe drones, resisting all weathers. Around it whirl traditional instruments and Tascam four-track cassette-tape loops, masterminded by composer Ross Chaney, giving the album an unearthly intensity".
Folk radio UK
d. 1. Aug. 2021
By
By
David Weir
d. 1. Aug. 2021
"Artist of the month" - "There are not many acts out there that can live up to the craic and intensity of a Lankum show. Though if anyone's up to the task, it's John Francis Flynn. Opening for the band on their 2019 European tour, alone onstage, he cut an imposing figure. Here was an artist who could mine metaphysical depths and sing with the same emotional heft as the evening's headliners. A voice deep as submarine canyons and a few laboured notes on his acoustic proved all he needed to transfix his audience ... Unlike some Folktronica acts that can fall into the trap of getting so carried away with samples and sequencers that it detracts from a song's narrative, Flynn's affectionately dubbed 'Electradica' never feels at odds with its subject matter ... I Would Not Live Always's modular deviations only work to heighten his vision".
Uncut
2021 August
By
By
Rob Hughes
2021 August
"I Would Not Live Always is an extraordinary debut by any standard. Rooted in traditional song, Flynn uses the source material to fool around with form, framing his rich, sonorous voice in abstract drones, loops and electronic patter. Crucially too, he's chosen to balance out his studio band with some non-trad musicians, chiefly producer Brendan Jenkinson on synths/electric guitar and drummer/synth player Ross Chaney, who also creates distinctive loops from a Tascam portastudio. The effect is ravishingly eerie ... I Would Not Live Always offers a singular and striking clarity of vision. Flynn might just be the label's most significant find thus far".
Songlines
2021 August/September
By
By
Tim Cumming
2021 August/September
"Dark Dublin folk: I Would Not Live Always opens with a brief burst of burbling electronics before the traditional ballad 'Lovely Joan' weighs in, its acoustic guitar and fiddle dappled by electronics and loops laid down like kindling by drummer and composer Ross Chaney. The following 'Cannily, Cannily' is one of two powerful father-son songs, this one gravely offering reasons for letting the old man get some sleep. 'Tralee Gaol', meanwhile, is a bold and bare instrumental, a rare glimpse into the acoustic, unaccompanied world of John Francis Flynn. His bravura dexterity on the double tin whistle is arresting, while his gravelly voice is best heard on the mournful 'Shallow Brown. In its sound design, Flynn's debut shares the drone cosmology of Lankum, for whom he opened on their 2019 tour. The push and pull between tradition and innovation is all over this record".