"I don't think there's any good reason to make an album like this. Not in any logical way." This is the answer you get when asking the Irish Songwriter A.S. Fanning how he arrived at making an album that is so bleak and apocalyptical it leaves you gasping for air.
The word melancholy is far too weak to describe this. Desperation is not the right fit either. A.S. Fanning seems to be the level-headed chronicler of a perishing world. Realistic/pessimistic. His album “Mushroom Cloud” is far more than that though. In the organic and analogue production of this album, the expansive rock band builds stunning melodic arcs around Fanning’s warm baritone voice. In connection with his inauspicious topics this leads to a bizarre enthrallment. Listening all the way through can feel like staring into a deep dark well for a little too long.
Lyrically, Mushroom Cloud can be described as an update to Leonard Cohen’s “The Future”. Paranoia, Isolation during COVID lockdowns, climate change, war, autocrats, populists, the internet as a battlefield and the precise registration of each and every moment, while the eyes
linger on an advertisement in the timeline.
credits
released May 26, 2023
Produced, Engineered and Mixed by Robbie Moore at Impression Recordings, Berlin
All songs written by A.S. Fanning
Mastered by Gary Scully at Aquarius Mastering, Berlin
Artwork and graphic design by Robert Mirolo
Jeff Collier - Drums and percussion
Felix Buchner - Bass guitar, Double Bass on track 6
Bernardo Sousa - Electric Guitar
Dave Adams - Organ, Piano, Electric Piano, Synthesizer
Robbie Moore - Backing Vocals, Percussion, Synthesizer on track 3
A.S. Fanning - Vocals and Guitar
Martin Lorenz - Timpani, Percussion and Xylophone on tracks 1, 2, 3, 6 and 7
Kevin Ryan - Pedal Steel Guitar on track 4
Strings on tracks 1 and 8 performed by the Oriel Quartett
Alice Dixon - Cello
Paul Livingston - Viola
Kundri Schäfer - Violin
Markéta Janoušková - Violin
String arrangements for track 1 by Irene Buckley and A.S. Fanning,
arrangements for track 8 by Irene Buckley and Bernardo Sousa
French singer-songwriter Sophia Djebel Rose makes shadowy, minimal psych-folk with magnetic and immediate emotional connection. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 29, 2022
Irish singer-songwriter Oisin Leech's acoustic folk music is characterized by its muted beauty and intimate, solitary quality. Bandcamp New & Notable Mar 16, 2024
From Cork, Ireland, Lewis Barfoot writes mystic, majestic songs derived from regional folk, with an ambient music aura. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 11, 2023
A vibrant vision of "Central Americana" from the Costa Rica-based artist, blending heartland devotionals with playful Tropicália grooves. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 27, 2022