In light of his recent, packed out acoustic gig for IRIS we review aidan's latest record.

Aidan has played and toured extensively around Europe enjoying alot of time and live show experience in Belgium but has now returned to Dublin with an evocative, fast-pace album that opens with a bang in the form of 'Just before I hit the ground'. This live version which I have heard before myself is a fast moving sharp tune, that opens with riffs that make you think climax, a build-up to something and the chorus comes in building momentum, Aidan delivering the lyrics with his distinct gravel rough voice (Billy Corgan-esque?? perhaps) that soars and falls with the verses and really carries you through the great guitar solo chunks of the tune.

'Back to the bar' is a song that brings the pace back, the song is soft and inoffensive and is almost a periphery observation of being on the other side of drunk and its definitely a crowd friendly track, a personal favourite.

'Always' is five minutes of sincere sentiment expressed through a mans regret at his own inability to communicate his endless affection for someone, a cliché concept but an eerily beautiful , sexy and romantic song. Maybe the lyrics might merit a slightly more defined delivery (occasionally I miss chunks of verses) but all in all a really nice little number using both electric and acoustic guitar so it carries almost a blues vibe into the final chorus.

'Believe' was a track that just got me the second Aidan plucked the first chord, a song which I would safely parallel with some early Damien Rice live stuff I'd heard before, because its a song all about the fucked-up confusions and disorientations of loving someone else and learning to love yourself. The chorus at first might seem a bit familiar but is infinitely catchy and makes you, if nothing else, empathise with anyone or everyone out there who looks at themselves with a degree of dark uncertainty and insecurity. "...do you think you're here to please everyone else? Be your self for a while... maybe you should believe in yourself for a while?..." There is an almost nihilistic level of desire in this song and the lyrics communicate volumes about the contrast Aidan finds for himself in his own work. The lyrics grab you and if you pay attention the cynicism and experience that come through really works to Aidan's advantage on this track.

'Drops still swelling in my eyes' was so like a folk or country track it could have been a Willie Nelson original and is a stunning example of the complexity of this artist who throughout the album moulds the tunes into strange, unique unforgettable snap shots of personal experience, pain and joy, raising and lowering the tempo constantly to fit the sentiment of the songs "...I feel like Leonard Cohen singing Veronica...". Maybe, unprofessionally, it was not the whole range of tracks that I heard live that made me want to buy and review this record but something about the chorus to this one track really touched me and Aidan plays and performs it with conviction. An interesting mix of Indie, Blues, rock and roll and huge swells of emotion.

Stephanie Frances O'Brien