YOUR WEEKLY MUSIC FIX November 01, 2019

Music, Movies, Games & Video Charts Magazine IRELAND’S

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I TOP 10 #SpotLightChart MAGAZINES THE IRISHMAN

JAMES BLUNT SASHA SLOAN

CHER PureMzine Editor: Chris Thompson [email protected]

Music Reviews Dave Simpson Danielle Holian

Music News Anne Hunter [email protected]

Gig Photography Anamaria Meiu Paulo Nuno

Film Reviews Tommy McCormack

CONNECT Twitter @puremzine YouTube #PureMzine

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We’re always looking for writers to contribute each week to our magazine... submit music, gig, or film reviews to [email protected], thank you! GLOBAL RISING STAR ANNOUNCES HUGE OUTDOOR SHOWS FOR SUMMER 2020

Ahead of two sold out 3Arena hope, and that battle between defining 'Power Over Me,' he shows this December and them, and the way that in life has gained over 750 million following the incredible you'll inevitably experience streams and boasts 11.5 million international success of his beautiful things and terrible listeners monthly on Spotify debut Without Fear, things," he says of the LP. alone. He has received a nod in Dermot Kennedy today 'Without Fear' dwells directly the BBC Sound Of 2019 and announces his biggest on a time when, just as he fell was voted NPR Slingshot's Best homeland headline shows yet at in love, he lost a close family New Artist of 2018 and Best Malahide Castle Dublin and friend. Writing songs has Solo Artist 2018 at the Pure M Irish Independent Park Cork helped him deal with that Awards. He has toured Europe, next Summer. rollercoaster time. "This is the America and Australia, and Dermot Kennedy tells us his only way I know how to put made his debut on US television debut 12-track album is "my feelings across," he says. "Great on the Stephen Colbert show, best effort in presenting myself people like Van Morrison, they soon followed by an incredible to the world," he thinks. And as did this too. So, you've got to do performance on The Ellen ever, it shows his ability to span it." Show. "I'm still pinching myself a whole range of emotions, Undeniably, Kennedy is on every time we put a tour on sale often in the space of just one the way to becoming one of the and it sells out," says Kennedy, song. greats himself. Thanks to the whose hypnotic live shows have "I wanted it to represent success of songs like 'Lost', become word-of-mouth darkness and sorrow but also 'Outnumbered' and the career- sensations.

03 ‘Once Upon a Mind’

by Danielle Holian

ames Blunt has released his me, there’s an ocean / Castaway it standing right in front of me / brand-new sixth studio- in a sea and it’s frozen / I’m But I think that I’m runnin’ album, Once Upon a Mind. exposed, can’t you see, all I from the only one I really JBlunt opens the album with, need is a little warmth.” need,” over a soothing string ‘The Truth’. It has a fun and Although the lyrics are quite instrumental piece. exciting instrumental that’s sad, the production is fun to ‘Monsters’, a song dedicated groovy, presented over dance along to; Blunt guides to Blunt’s father, it is a beautiful emotional vocal abilities and the listener on a journey with tribute track and addition to the heart-wrenching lyricism. It’s a his voice as he unfolds the rest album. Blunt takes on the perfect introduction track to the of the story. Overall, there is a responsibility to take on his record setting up the vibe on plain sight fresh feeling that father’s role, he sings, “And what’s yet to come. trembles on the listener’s while you’re sleeping I’ll try to Following on, is the album’s heartstrings. make you proud / So, Daddy, lead single, ‘Cold’. Blunt Blunt commented on won’t you just close your eyes? continues with the confessional ‘Champions’, stating, “Either / Don’t be afraid, it’s my turn / song type display where he we win this thing together, or To chase the monsters away.” describes his love for his we die alone. I believe in us.” It’s a sentimental, personal, and partner. “It’s been lonely trying It’s truly an uplifting, heartfelt moving song that crafts an to get your attention from a track. He opens the track, authentic moment. It truly cuts thousand miles away / And you singing, “Get a little nervous, to the core. know me always overthinking then I stumble and I hesitate / ‘Youngster’ is an upbeat, pop the worst possibilities,” James Never take a chance because filled track as Blunt feels yoúng opens the song crooning. “We I’m too afraid my heart will at heart. He beautifully sings, both know, in between you and break / Everything I ever want, “Sometimes my face ain’t the

04 PUREMZINE.COM melodrama, piano-led soul to save us / Need someone instrumentation. to be the greatest.” ‘I Told You’ is a beautiful This album explores many track dedicated to Blunt’s topics from love to morality in children. It’s almost sung in a beautiful, delicate ways that lullaby tone. During the chorus, overall compliment the he sings, “Baby, take care of production and vocal abilities. your heart / Every day that I’m Blunt experiments with not with you / If you’re ever different vocal styles, scared of the dark / Remember, producing wonderful tracks I told you / Darling, I will never with catchy lyrics. As he be far / Wherever you go I’ll do discusses emotional milestones too / Baby, I was there from the of love and loss, there’s a lot of start / Remember, I told you.” depth shown, rather than ‘Halfway’ is an empowering picking and choosing “safe” track with sing-along moments songs that would tick boxes and servings as an anthemic please certain people. motivator and tuneful addition. With this new James Blunt As the song progresses, it era, his music appears more dismisses the term that you’re classic than previous halfway in or out of something collections with a perfect spin wholeheartedly saying you’re showcasing his evolution into, face I remember it being / But either in or out. Once Upon a Mind, as he wrote I’m the same kid that I used to ‘Stop the Clock’ is an each track from his head and be,” on the bridge disclosing he expressive track describing heart unveiling themes he knows someone will try to take Blunt’s father’s wish to stop wanted to discuss on this his thunder, but in his heart, he time. “It’s like the hands of time record. knows he’s made his mark. / Have put handcuffs on mine / Blunt previously stated prior Representing the halfway And nothing about this is holy / to the release of this album that mark of the album, ‘5 Miles’. It’s just killing me, killing me he’d gone back to basics, “it’s Blunt opens the track, singing, slowly,” he sings before the most honest album I have “It’s a shame that I’m never continuing, “And I’m not ready ever made.” From beginning to gonna see your face again / yet / But I’m running outta end, this idea has paid off. It’s a We’re both strangers but I’m breath / And all I can do is beautiful masterpiece, and his kind of hoping maybe that watch / ‘Cause I can’t find talent has improved immensely could change,” in a delicate, away.” thus far. crooning tone. It’s an energising ‘The Greatest’ is a beautiful It appears Blunt has track telling a story about closing track with excellent questions about his life, in simpler times. wisdom written for generations particular, the way he was ‘How It Feels To Be Alive’ is to come. He graciously sings, raised, so as he expressed his a wonderful, heartbreaking “So be the young, the brave, the bravery he opened himself up radio-friendly track, that tells a powerful / ‘Cause the world is more in-depth for this album, story about how the past is still standing to wait for someone to which in turn leaves a lasting haunting him to the present day. come and change it / Yeah, be impression. It’s a pleasant, It delivers a promising, heartfelt the young, the brave, the comforting, and desirable listen emotion along with the powerful / ‘Cause we need a over the course of the 11-tracks.

05 06 PUREMZINE.COM MAGAZINES TOUGH by Dave Simpson nfluenced by the likes of York, and mastered in NYC by energetic music which precedes Wolf Alice, Smashing Scott Hull, who has previously a pleasant first verse during Pumpkins, The Cure, Red worked with Bob Dylan and which alluringly laid-back Hot Chili Peppers, The Bruce Springsteen. instrumentation is Sundays and Vulfpeck, Dublin Written by Catherine, complemented by some Ibased rhythm guitarist/vocalist “Tough” is about a tumultuous enthrallingly soft yet resonant Catherine, lead guitarist past relationship. Talking about singing. An admirably heartfelt Shayne, bassist Tom and the song, the vocalist said, and vigorous chorus follows drummer Dan decided to team “Musically, it’s definitely a from here, leading the way to a up to form a band together and very poppy song, unlike a lot of delightfully expressive second recently began making music as our tunes, but I like that stanza, after which another Magazines. because it goes hand in hand spirited chorus prefaces an This week sees the release of with the lyrics, which, although enticingly vibrant instrumental the quartet’s debut single, they are simple enough, do exhibition that’s succeeded by a “Tough”, which was produced carry a heavy meaning for me commendably passionate final by Dermot Lambert alongside and remind me of a time where vocal display. Howie Beno, who took time I really wasn’t that happy.” The outcome is a away from his work with The freshly composed three consistently characterful and Debbie Harry to complete the and three quarter minute tune animated pop/rock composition track across the Atlantic in New begins with a barrage of that’s easy on the ears.

07 SASHA SLOAN ‘SELF-PORTRAIT’

by Danielle Holian

merican singer- Sloan opens the EP with a confessional track about all , Sasha ‘Thoughts’ that she the sins she’s committed in her Sloan, has released heartbreakingly confesses, “I life, but accepting she’s human. hAer third extended-play, Self- swear to God I’m trying, but I She sings, “Thank God for Portrait, featuring seven-tracks. don’t know how to be, how to making a Hell / Thank God for Sloan stated on the release of be a good friend to me,” making a place full of fire and the EP, “this EP is more about discussing her battle with greedy-ass liars / Where I’m being OK with the fact that I mental health. It documents the just like everyone else. Thank have a lot of anxiety, and that I day-to-day struggles one might God for Hell.” don’t want to go to parties.” go through with mental health The mantra type track of Throughout the EP, it’s clear issues. It shows she’s searching ‘Keep On’ fits the EP perfectly to see Sloan stayed true to for inner strength over a with its tones and vocal herself and didn’t compromise soothing production from a soft abilities. It’s a hopeful, on her artistic vision. It’s an electric guitar. emotional track that reflects on authentic offering discussing There’s a doomsday feeling mental health issues, she themes over the seven-tracks throughout the records as she heartbreakingly sings, “The that are drawn from raw muses, “So if the pearly gates walls are starting to cave in. experiences and emotions she won’t open up for me, at least I Sometimes, I wish I was felt from self-loathing, know there’s somewhere else I somebody else. When my mind overcoming heartbreak, to can go,” with a wonderful starts misbehaving is when I grow from situations she found production and accompanied tell myself; Okay baby, you’ll herself it. melodies on ‘Thank God’. It’s be okay. You just gotta keep,

08 but I’m too scared to take ’em / I try and I try, but I’m too sad to cry.” ‘Smiling When I Die’ is an upbeat track closing the EP. It’s a hopeful anthem with a lot of personal revelations she confessions, especially during the pre-chorus, she sings, “Don’t wanna look back thinking I could’ve done this, or I could’ve tried that. Don’t wanna look back cause it’s going by fast.” It’s a wonderful, touching sentiment track that offers insight that she wants to be happy and live in the moment. Her vocals are echoed over soothing beats and guitar plucking that will pull on the listener’s heartstrings. It’s a brutally honest release from the songstress. The indie- pop offering dives deep into the gotta keep on.” world and how it rubs off into depths of her vulnerability. There’s an emotional feeling society. She sings during the Each song crafts something new on ‘Dancing With Your Ghost’ chorus, “But at least I look cool and different as she explores that describes the void left by / At some house in Malibu / dark places her mind takes her loss that is told in a poetic way. Taking pictures by the pool / to create a distinct collection of It’s a piano-led ballad that finds Doing things I never do / But at tracks. It showcases her talents Sloan trying to acceptance after least I look cool.” as an artist and wordsmith. losing a loved one. She sings, “I ‘Too Sad To Cry’ has simple Throughout the seven-tracks, stay up all night, tell myself I’m string instrumentation that is a it’s plain to see the poignant alright / Baby, you’re just song for anyone battling with lyrics along with craft melodies harder to see than most / I put mental health issues as the lines over incredible productions. the record on, wait ’til I hear our get blurry struggling to know This is an excellent collection song / Every night, I’m dancing what’s wrong and why they’re of tracks and Sloan’s strongest with your ghost.” sad. She sings delicately during release to date. It’s impactful ‘At Least I Look Cool’ is a the chorus, “I’m too sad to cry, and showcases her incredible blunt addition to the EP that too high to get up / Don’t even strengths as a songwriter diving discusses the music industry try ’cause I’m scared to fuck up deep into vulnerable storytelling and scene she’s surrounded by / Don’t like to talk, I just lay in regarding topics she’s most and the environments she’s my bed / Don’t even try to go passionate about. been in going on to progress the out with my friends / Lied to Self-Portrait, follows Sloan’s story into unveiling the my doctor, she knew I was previous EP’s Sad Girl, and pretentiousness in the online faking / Gave me some pills, Loser.

09 by TOMMY MCCORMACK THMartin ESc orsIese- RISHMAN directed, three-and- half-hour gangster epic sAtarring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino, based on a well-known crime-history book, I Heard You Paint Houses. One that boasts state- of-the-art de-ageing technology (the kind pioneered by the team behind The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) that allows the filmmakers to showcase the cast’s roles over the course of 50 years. It’s a cinephile’s wildest dream. So why has it taken the master filmmaker so long to make it? As he would tell you, no movie studio would finance his film as he saw it in his head, with its daunting scope and The film follows Frank “The America. It is in these early expensive VFX demands. Thus, Irishman” Sheeran (De Niro) as stages that the de-ageing Scorsese has had to make do he recounts his time working technology is, admittedly, at its with making this for Netflix, for the Bufalino crime family as most rusty, given the visual gap which means that many will not a hitman, a period in which he between DeNiro and Pesci’s see it on the big screen. got close to shady US labour middle-aged appearances and Fortunately, they will at least be leader Jimmy Hoffa (Pacino). how they look today in real life. able, should they have Netflix, The first hour is vintage It is not just a matter of faces, to access it at home, where they Scorsese, tracking how the but also of hands and body can pause and revisit it later former US soldier first fell in posture. As the film goes on and rather than consume it in one with the mob and earned his the characters age up, however, go. There are some cinematic reputation. This is not a vision the viewer should hopefully shots throughout, but one can of a hedonistic, larger-than-life become accustomed to the sense the Netflix model mostly mob lifestyle in the vein of effects to the point of taking shaping his directorial Casino or Scarface (1983), for them for granted, as Scorsese approach, given that this is the real-life Sheeran largely intended. DeNiro’s blue largely an intimate, dialogue- operated in the more down-to- Sheeran-eyes do remain a bit driven film that lends itself earth, secluded settings of mid- off, though. more easily to television. 20th-century, small-town When Pacino’s Hoffa finally

10 PUREMZINE.COM turns up, the film shifts gears makes proper grown-up cinema structured, DeNiro-starring into more political territory, that demands patience and Once Upon a Time in America. informed greatly by the attention. Scorsese scholars will argue American history unfolding in It is in the last third that the that this is why he waited until the background. As many may narrative comes back into this period in his life to tackle have predicted, Pacino’s focus, as that infamous, Hoffa- the material. His camera moves extroverted Hoffa becomes a related historical event looms are tamer, his pacing is a little more dominant screen presence into view, followed by the more relaxed and his overall than DeNiro’s more reserved subsequent fallout. In an tone is more meditative than in Sheeran. The former, of course, already-long movie, one may past crime-themed works. He deploy larger-than-life, if not feel frustrated by the tends to let the dialogue scenes quite OTT, acting flourishes filmmakers’ continued wheel- play out without any additional while the latter underplay spinning, but then, one should flourishes on his part. things. This whole, somewhat give them credit for devoting One could argue that the saggy mid-section is where attention to that fallout over the director is very much the star of audiences may feel as though course of the story’s remaining the show, drawing the audience they have crossed into a years. It gives the whole film, in through his penchant for different movie, in terms of and indeed Sheeran’s life, a astute framing, agile camera focus and setting. As the retrospective, mournful weight. movements, fast-flowing relationship between the two If Goodfellas was about dialogue, montage and the characters is charted, there is capturing the vibrancy of occasional bit of slo-mo. Once plenty of opportunities for the reckless, self-entitled youth, again, he is helped by his editor screenplay to compare US The Irishman is very much Thelma Schoonmaker, who underworld corruption with about an old man’s regrets, and weaves the soundtrack through similar, less overt US political it is narratively framed that the onscreen action and keeps corruption. Scorsese does not way. In that sense, it has more the scenes in constant, well- spoon-feed his audience- he in common with the similarly paced flow. Cynics could argue that both the director and editor, with emphasis on the former, are showing off their skills to the point of self-indulgence (for 208 minutes, at that), using the medium of film itself to grab and hold onto our attention, as if not fully trusting the story itself to do so. Scorsese is seemingly terrified of being boring, and ensures, scene by scene, that there is enough to keep viewers locked in until the end. Scorsese fans would rebut that by suggesting that his style is designed to keep us attentive and entertained as we watch a story that is ultimately about

11 amoral people doing repulsive Of course, Scorsese and his Stephen Graham) to be recalled things. Violence is sparse, but crew can only do half the work, later on, for those keeping track. when it comes, it has an impact. for the other half is done by his Alas, there are no proper female At this point in his career as a great cast bringing the material roles in this male-dominated director of gangster films, one to life. This particularly applies film. could be forgiven for taking a to his long-time collaborative Given the sheer density of very important achievement for partner DeNiro, who once again Sheeran’s saga, you do wonder granted- his ability to tell an demonstrates an ability to keep whether Scorsese should epic, based-on-fact story as a viewers invested in, and maybe perhaps have focused on certain ripping yarn, told through the strangely sympathetic toward, portions of it rather than bite off subjective eyes of one blatantly an amoral protagonist over the this much to chew. Given his amoral member of that criminal course of three hours, rarely new inclinations toward Netflix, world. With plenty of room for ever being offscreen. As Russell he could have given us a more molasses-black humour and a Bufalino, Joe Pesci makes a expansive TV series, or at least catchy soundtrack, except for welcome (and final?) return to mini-series, because even a where least appropriate. You the world of acting, only this behemoth like this can struggle could say “been there, done time to offer us a subdued turn, to cover just about everything. that”, but you could also not another of his trademark It goes without saying that those appreciate his ability to hot-heads. Yes, Pacino who do not have a taste for successfully go “there” to do grandstands, but he does so as Scorsese or his subject matter “that”. One drawback of the an extension of his egotistical will be less inclined to make the reserved, somewhat enigmatic character while leaving room commitment. Those who do, nature of Frank Sheeran, for nuance as well. Around the however, will likely view The however, is that DeNiro, unlike three acting titans swarms a sea Irishman, for all its flaws, as Goodfellas’ Ray Liotta as of supporting players who come another solid addition to his Henry Hill, has less to work and go throughout, each trying filmmaking oeuvre. One that with throughout when it comes to shine (including Scorsese Netflix subscribers can catch on to propping up the whole film. veterans Harvey Keitel and November 27th.

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live at Dublin’s 3Arena on Friday 1 November, 2019 – Photography by Anamaria Meiu 15