Album launch
Music Room, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
6th May 2016

Reviewed by Rob Harrison

This new release from Only Child seems to invoke a sense of love, both lost and found. It seems as if songwriter Alan O’Hare is a wayward soul tossing endlessly around in his sea of heartbreak, but tonight the whale finds its way to the Music Room at the Philharmonic.

This is the second album by the band and features an impressive lineup of musicians, including fiddle player Laura Mckinlay, who’s brilliant playing reminds me of Helen O’Hara from Dexys Midnight Runners. Also featured is producer/ musician Jon Lawton with his thoughtful guitar parts. Jon also helped to produce the album with O’Hare, complementing the set is a back line of saxes, trumpets, bass and drums.

It seems to be a genre busting set built upon Irish type ballads and sing-alongs. The influences can be heard through the set of Van Morrison and The Waterboys. In fact a Waterboys cover version surfaces at the end, ha, no pun intended. But the material is strong and his lyrics for this type of music are pertinent and thoughtful. He should really have been like the kid at the party, cake all over his face and the paper hat slightly slipping from the top of his head, but tonight he seems eager to please the crowd with past material and cover versions .

Artistic niggles aside, it was a brilliant night and the band played well throughout, with good support slots from Vanessa Murray and Dominic Dunn.

Only Child’s next stop is Thornton Hough, Lets hope they can do more dates as the album deserves to be heard by a wider public.