Poor Creature
Coming together as a very loose unit during lockdown, they haven’t rushed into recording, instead taking the time to develop a sound that’s distinctly theirs but which fits within the spectrum of this new Irish music.
At times the music arrives heavily shrouded, almost hidden, as on the traditional pieces “Adieu Lovely Erin” and “Bury Me Not,” where they emerge slowly from the sonic murk for an effect that’s quite psychedelic.
Part of their uniqueness comes from the pre-programmed drumbeats on Clinton’s vintage Organette keyboard, which provide a metronomic clash against Dermody’s more explosive and propulsive playing, particularly evident on the title track, one of the places on the album where the traditional and old country music meet. With both Clinton and MacDiarmada taking lead vocals, there’s a double attack that they display in fine style on “The Whole Towns Knows.” But even the formality of country is transformed here, the structures becoming more amorphous and blurred bringing them more in line with Poor Creature’s take on the tradition. That find its heigh on the swirling epic of a closer, the brooding “Willie-o” where the dark drone that underpins the tracks creates the unease that simply grows across the nine and a half minutes of music an unsettling way to finish. This might be a side band, but it’s one that’s serious and stands as tall and proud as the members’ main outfits. With their solid identity, they’re an identifiable part of the new Irish folk movement – however that might be defined – and filled with the questing spirit.
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