The new album from Manchester-Irish singer-songwriter Cal Murphy based in Barcelona. Some silly; some serious; some slightly silly satirical songs; some subtly serious and seriously stupid songs. A little bit Folk, a little bit Punk, a little bit comedy, a little bit of feels and a fair bit of Irish folk influence.
Cal doesn’t have a web site so all information here is taken from his Bandcamp site so apologies if anything is missing. Cal has been releasing music since 2017 and his output is pretty prolific with music coming out regularly especially during the Covid lockdowns. His new album One More Glass Of Whiskey is nine songs of acoustic Folk with Cal accompanied by friends Mary Mahaffey, James Ellwood and Ian Savage on several tracks giving the album a much bigger feel than a purely solo release. Coming out at the end of 2023 we were unable to feature it last year so only right to give One More Glass Of Whiskey a review now.
The album opens with the brilliant ‘The Sad Truth About What I Decided To Do With My Life’ that starts off with the lines
“Acoustic music is… shit
And the only people who like it
Are those guys, you know, the ones
Who get a 6-string out at a party
And think it counts as a personality
But don’t realise everyone thinks they look a tit”
A very honest way of looking at the music industry and certainly a very funny one too! Cal has written all the songs here and plays acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bodhrán and tin-whistle. Next up is the title track and while I was expecting a drinking song I was not expecting this great tale of a bent copper trying to influence a new recruit into his ways.
Cal gets serious next with the slow and delicate ‘Rope’ telling of the need we sometimes have for others to rally round us. Men suffer disproportionately from thing like cancer deaths, suicide and the MSM not giving a shit about it. The album speeds up next and appropriately it’s a song about Punk! ‘Punk’s Not Dead; It Just Got Old’ tells the story of many of us aging Punk rockers wondering where the time went.
“Where did those days go?
So far away, so far away
And how the hell did I wind up playing folk?”
Cal’s sings of his adopted home next on the beautiful ‘Barcelona Skies’ while he hangs up the acoustic guitar for an electric one for ‘The 27 Club’ (the age of which many musicians and actors popped their clogs from over indulging and their high-risk lifestyles) and a chugging song with Cal wondering if he’ll get his big break if he dies before he reaches 28 but soon realises that he’d rather stick around with his baby daughter. The highlight of the album is ‘Slipping Away’ and again an emotional tale of a mugging gone wrong and the damage it does. One to make the hairs on your neck stand up this one. The curtain comes down on One More Glass Of Whiskey with another great track, ‘Portrait Of A Sleeping City’ where Cal walks home from the bar in the small hours.
The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Iban Rodríguez and Bernat Sanchez at Estudi La Palmera in Barcelona. Cal Murphy has been on our radar for a couple of years or so but as far as I can tell his debut release goes back to mid-2017 and with Cal still being (or at least looking!) a young man we can expect plenty more from him. A classic story telling singer-songwriter in the traditional Irish sense his music lending much from Irish Folk and his lyrics always telling interesting stories with meaning.
(You can stream / download the album One More glass Of Whiskey via the Bandcamp app below)
Buy One More glass Of Whiskey Bandcamp
Contact Cal Murphy Facebook Instagram YouTube
LONDON CELTIC PUNKS WEB-ZINE 
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