Eugene McGuinness looks every inch not the star. He doesn’t swagger when he rolls down the roadside; he doesn’t drape himself in designer names ahead of pennies-and-pounds schedule. He’s a fresh-of-face songwriter whose focus is precisely where it should be: on the songs and the songs alone.
Plucking from historical mists the musical era this self-titled debut album would sit most perfectly in is a difficult task – one thing that’s clear is that it bears no similarity to many a modern record, save perhaps The Last Shadow Puppets’ long-player of earlier this year. The two share an old-worldliness that can’t be conjured in machinery; rather, it stems from the soul – or souls – of individuals involved in the creative process. Squint and you see in sepia, tap a fingertip to your ear and notes wind around it like a gramophone needle on its journey to the centre of the shellac.
‘Rings Around Rosa’ is our introduction, a vocal purposefully distorted by (what’s designed to sound like) archaic recording equipment rising atop a rapidly strummed acoustic guitar, held high against the chest no doubt. You’d almost call it skiffle if it wasn’t for McGuinness’s passionate claim that “you’re the only one that I want” breaking into the most serene, echo-drenched vocal sidestep – something like The Vipers possessed by the Cocteau Twins. It’s one of numerous captivatingly left-of-centre turns this record takes.
As the Postcard catalogue is raided for inspiration, and C86 methodology is given the once over, McGuinness proves himself to be quite the master of myriad takes on pop of a post-punk and sweet-tooth variety, catchy melodies and barbed-hook vocals embedding themselves deep. He’s also partial to darting further still into the past, conjuring thoughts of sing-along show tunes with numbers like ‘Wendy Wonders’ and the end-titles melancholy of ‘Those Black & White Movies’, a track so sweep-you-off-your-feet of splendour it’s a wonder its maker could complete a take without weeping at the gorgeousness of it all.
‘Moscow State Circus’ – the record’s lead single – and ‘Atlas’ act as more instant-fix hits for absolute beginners unaccustomed with McGuinness’s mini-album of last year, ‘The Early Learnings Of…’ – both mix waltzy overtones with straight-up indie-pop conventions, although the latter has a little of the wild west saloon bar about its piano parts. ‘God In Space’ sees the album home with a pleasant sigh, that final exhale of satisfaction one might experience after a particularly enjoyable day’s adventuring. It’s woozy, romantic; the work of a man more mature of ability than his years might suggest.
Eugene McGuinness might not look the star, yet, but songs like these easily earn their place among the stellar bodies that illuminate our darkest nights. As the album ends with a delightful twinkle, one can’t help but foresee an incredibly bright future for one of the UK’s most promising new solo artists
