Fionn Regan - 100 Acres Of Sycamore (Album Review)
Thursday, 25 August 2011
Written by Ben Bland
The main problem with Fionn Regan’s music for many is that there isn’t really that much to say about it. His first record, 2006’s 'The End of History', was an impressive debut but felt more like a stepping stone towards greater glories than an artist already at their best. Sadly the follow-up, last year’s 'The Shadow of an Empire', felt somewhat uninspired. The downward trend continues with '100 Acres of Sycamore'. At its best, this album is pretty inoffensive. At its worst, it’s almost enough to send you to sleep.
Regan hasn’t strayed far from the folk template on this album, aside from taking the decision to place large dollops of soppy string parts all over the place. At times it is almost like drowning in weepy wooziness.
The worst culprit on the album of inducing a journey down to the land of nod is 'The Horses are Asleep', which is mundane enough that it should be considered for its own spin-off series on QVC. The high points of the album, such as they are, still drag in comparison to Regan’s earliest work. There is simply no need for the opening title track or the piano led 'Vodka Sorrow' to stretch on beyond four and a half minutes. The latter especially would be particularly enjoyable if it didn’t find the need to overstay its welcome past six minutes.
There’s also a sense that Regan is trying to position himself here. Perhaps as a middle of the afternoon Radio 2 favourite or as a contender to sit in amongst the murky slush of Magic. Even the daringly titled, for Regan at least, 'Sow Mare Bitch Vixen' sounds like it would make itself rather comfortable on the record player at your grandmother’s house. It is not a bad song, there is just so little about it. Indeed, aside from the aforementioned 'The Horses are Asleep'; most of this album really could be a hell of a lot worse. However this really is ‘flat as a pancake’ stuff for the most part and, for a third record, sounds worryingly like the work of an artist who lacks both motivation and ideas which is a crying shame.
'100 Acres of Sycamore' is out now on Heavenly Records.
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There’s also a sense that Regan is trying to position himself here. Perhaps as a middle of the afternoon Radio 2 favourite or as a contender to sit in amongst the murky slush of Magic. Even the daringly titled, for Regan at least, 'Sow Mare Bitch Vixen' sounds like it would make itself rather comfortable on the record player at your grandmother’s house. It is not a bad song, there is just so little about it. Indeed, aside from the aforementioned 'The Horses are Asleep'; most of this album really could be a hell of a lot worse. However this really is ‘flat as a pancake’ stuff for the most part and, for a third record, sounds worryingly like the work of an artist who lacks both motivation and ideas which is a crying shame. 
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