SÉAN McCANN
Son of a Sailor
Lean Ground Music 2-000063
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Originally published in SingOut! Magazine 54:4
Longtime Great Big Sea (GBS) mainstay Séan McCann also
indulges his singer/songwriter persona. Son
of a Sailor is his second solo release and the material and feel of it
suggest he’s evolving a new genre: Salt Water & Western. The album consists
of ten songs that explore blue-collar life, plebian dreams, and everyday
heartaches. To set the mood, McCann varies his vocal styles. Sometimes he’s a
smooth tenor, sometimes a winsome (and ironic) Irishman, and at other moments
he’s earnest, raspy-voiced, and contemplative. Above all, he’s a storyteller.
“The Reply (the ballad of John and Mary)” is an across-time love song based
loosely on his grandparents that’s like a conversation between two hearts
beating in unison. “Soldier’s Song” is an interior look into men deployed away
from home that reminds us that they generally think about family, not
manufactured warrior ideals. McCann also sings of the lure of the sea (“Rather
be a Sailor”), but he balances the ideal with the real. In “Another Long
Goodbye” he cleverly uses the romantic ambience of the tune to strip away
overly romantic notions of what hard work and seafaring entail. Those who know
McCann only from GBS will find his solo efforts less rowdy, more personal, and
more folksy than pop. You have to make your way to “Back to You,” the final
track, before you get anything that approaches GBS in energy. That’s not a dig;
McCann’s quiet, reflective side is sublime.
-Rob Weir
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