Paul Dempsey - Everything Is True Review

Paul Dempsey Everything Is True

full review

Tracklist:
1. Bats
2. Fast Friends
3. Out The Airlock
4. Ramona Was A Waitress
5. Take Us To Your Leader
6. Bird In A Basement
7. Theme From Nice Guy
8. Have You Fallen Out Of Love?
9. The Great Optimist
10. Safety In Numbness
11. Man Of The Moment

Ranking: #14 for 2009

user rating

4.1
excellent

Chart.

other reviews

David James Young (4)
Aussie musician becomes citizen of the world with a focused, intelligent solo debut....

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On 11 Lists

4.5
superb

Doug Belfast USER (29 Reviews)

2009-08-27 | 217 comments | 1,596 views

Summary: Dempsey delivers one of the most beautiful albums of the year in his first ever solo outing.

5 of 5 thought this review was well written

Paul Dempsey is the mastermind behind the exquisite band that is Something For Kate, which has had much success in recent years. After 15 years with Something For Kate Dempsey has decided to go it alone. Hailing from Australia, Dempsey is pretty much an unknown to the rest of the world, which is a shame since his debut album Everything Is True is full of wonderful song writing, and fantastic instrumental work, which is surprisingly covered all by Dempsey himself. It could be said that Dempsey has delivered an album that may be one of the best your ears will hear all year.

When Dempsey was writing for Something For Kate, the tracks came out quite slow and sometimes quite sorrowful, but with Everything Is True the music is much more upbeat and dare I say it, happy sounding. Though lyrically Dempsey hasn’t really changed a thing, take the first single for example, ‘Out The Airlock’ which begins with quite a simple guitar twiddle and then the quite distinctive vocals that only Paul Dempsey can deliver begin. His voice is quite beautiful even though it has a sad tone to it, but is still quite strikingly emotionally intense. ‘Out The Airlock’ may feel uplifting, though as you read into the lyrics you get a different view:

Dangled upside down from a great height
Tied to the rails as the train rounds the bend
Hijacked and hot wired
Snarled by the dogs against the chain link fence

After the initial tracks, like ‘Take Me To Your Leader’ with its lazy guitar and melodic harmonica opening, things begin to get slightly thin, and samey. Like the tracks ‘Bird In The Basement’ ‘Theme From Nice Guy’ and ‘Have You Fallen Out Of Love’ which follow the same sort of formula and don’t really bring anything new to the table. Fortunately some of the best tracks on the album are stacked up at the backend. ‘Safety In Numbness’ is a piano based rock piece, which is quite delectable on the ears and the closing number, ‘Man Of The Moment’ is a lovely guitar and voice piece that sends shivers down your back with the amazing delivery of Dempsey’s voice, and matched with quite some poetic lines.

Paul Dempsey may come across as an acquired taste though, be it his beautiful ballads in is solo work or his moving but rockier work circa Something For Kate, there is still definitely something for everyone on this album and Dempsey lets himself down on only a couple of tracks through the entirety of Everything Is True. Be that as it’s so, it still displays some of the man’s most beautiful work to date, and some of the most cohesive lyrics around. Everything Is True is an album that will definitely have repeated plays, and stick with you for a long time.

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