single review ~ 'perfect then' ~ owen mcgarry

Name: Owen McGarry
Genre: Experimental Pop
For Fans Of: And The Giraffe, Amber Run, PØRTS
Location: Belfast
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'Perfect Then', the latest effort from songwriter Owen McGarry, is a real gem ~ but he does a good job of hiding it.

His distinctive tone is on display and sounding good from the off, but there's no real intent to grab the audience in the opening few bars. It's in tune, yeah. It's inoffensive, but is it any different? No it's not. But don't confine this track to the Ed Sheeran shaped dust bin of acoustic-pop just yet, oh no.  When 'Perfect Then' finds it's rhythm, it keeps it.

PØRTS inspired choirs sing over mellow caverns of soulful guitar. Violins rise and fall, drums come crashing in and out. There's a lot going on, but this song needs it. McGarry seems to embrace the rumbling bass which really shouldn't go, yet somehow seems to. In a strange way, 'Perfect Then' feels nostalgic on the first listen ~ like its the soundtrack to a distant memory you can't quite pin down.

Whether or not that was intentional seems irrelevant. If there's even the slightest hint of doubt in Owen McGarry's mind to abandon such grand production, we would strongly encourage him to ignore it.

Taylor Johnson

Listen to the track below⁞►