Davy Lyons - Evidence
Davy Lyons, from Wexford, Ireland, based in Barcelona in recent years, writes to survive. Intimate, intense, image-laden, his work tells stories: from the early ballads of wanderers, murder and love by a river, to the songs he is writing today, chronicling daily life; sights and characters that cross his watchful heart, chronicles to cheat death. In concert what is discovered in solitary is shared, silence is allowed and valued, melody and word meet, bind us, open us, soothe us, private worlds momentarily united in a ceremony of intimacy.
Have you ever had a vivid sense of smelling something pleasant in a song as you listen? Well, that's what happens to us each time we listen to Evidence, the debut album by Davy Lyons. May it be the influence of the location he's based at or the musicians he plays with but there's undeniable Meditteranean element inmersed deeply in the songs and it's evident from the first chord.
Opening track A Return starts gently as a story song that picks up the tempo towards the end but doesn't loose Lyons' trademark, powerful songwriting that paints images before your eyes and intimate delivery. The strings create suitable dramatic mood throughout the song and the rhytm within corresponds with a heartbeat.
The arrangement of The Bullring combined with the romantic story smells of the sea and Spanish sun, wine and heartbreak. What starts with the words " I've never loved like this before, she's the one I give my life for..." ends with " I killed her with the knife through the heart.....I never loved like this before... she's the one I would have killed for..." and sends chills down your spine. Perhaps the inspiration lies in the hot Spanish temper and that's what makes it so irresistible.
The atmosphere Candles brings in is quite dark and dramatic once again, like a murder ballad. Another haunting piece where the guitar forms the base and the piano adds an extra depth. Lyons 'vocal is soft, nearly whispering at times yet carying that power inside that demands to be heard.
Plaisir D'Amour is a true tear-jerker. The longest of all the songs on the album (nearly 7 and half minutes) where the city of Barcelona gets a mention and you immediately picture Davy Lyons and the female vocalist sitting on the balcony in the Catalan capital, sharing the song and just enjoying life. Your imagination runs a bit wild especially when you hear the line " Catalans dance dresses as devils..."
Barcelona plays a key role in Davy Lyons' music and it shows. This debut album is a fine example of heartfelt songwriting.