The Shed - Every Leaf

Hear The Track Here

Seeing as I spend the whole year pandering to you bastar... um people, I think I deserve to take some time and listen to what I want to listen to - just for a change. Although this has come up on the MP3 Unsigned review list this month, I had already decided that I wanted to start off the New Year reviews with me ould mates from the Emerald Isle; The Shed. In case you have spent the last year on Pluto (the planet, not the dog), The Shed are a group from Cork, Ireland who blew a great many people away last year with their capacity for churning out great rock licks combined with a pop songwriting style that defies description - even for one so loquacious as yours truly. Actually to call The Shed a 'group' is extremely misleading too. Maybe a horde, a plethora, yeah and a rabble too - all ten of them. They also gave me a Track Of The Year last year and narrowly missed snagging my Artist Of The Year award in a year of some truly incredible competition.

So, yeah, I like them :D

Every Leaf hasn't (I can't believe I'm going to say this) fallen very far from the increasingly familiar Shed musical tree; a one-off blend of traditional Irish strains and pure pop rock that is often faultless and very, very refreshing. While the musicians, vocalists and songwriters carry the heavyweight kudos behind the Shed's success last year, fulsome praise should also go to the production and engineering team at Cormac O'Connors Studios to provide the high gloss finish this material so richly deserves. With a tune that initially had some U2 influence (not my favourite sound btw), Every Leaf didn't really hit me the first time I heard it, when Rogue first posted it online, but since I have been spending more time I have warmed to it considerably - not least because it presses tons of my musical pleasure buttons.

While it initally reminded me of ol' Pro Bono, further listening threw up lots of ther influences (including not surprisingly Lloyd Cole) all of which is down to the magical pipes of on Jim Corrigan (aka Yimbo) who - it must be said - sings this beautifully. There is a quality to his voice that really draws the listener in, aided and abetted by a truly gorgeous song and arrangement. This is an indication of the real quality The Shed bring to their work and is the prime force behind their endless appeal. So far I have heard, and kept, every single one of this band's tracks and Every Leaf already gained that honour within a couple of listens because it is - above all - a cracking song with some great singalonga bits. To be sure, there is NO-ONE around that quite does it the same way as The Shed and you would be missing out big time if you didn't get some pure Irish blarney into your earholes mucho pronto.

Class rock pop song, sung beautifully. MUST HAVE.