Wading through the muddy water of his twenties, Pa Sheehy’s debut solo album ‘Maybe It Was All For This’ digs deep into the good times, the difficult times and the distinctly Irish experiences that come with growing up.
The former Walking on Cars frontman has dictated his solo career in remaining true to the vulnerable nature that surrounds his craft. ‘Maybe It Was All For This’ calls to fans who have been with him for a decade and introduces the singer to a new audience who get to witness the magic of his songwriting for the first time.
“I don’t know where I’ll go but I’m going” rings the chorus of the opening track ‘Towards The Water’. Slow and melodic, ‘Calling Off The Search’ follows suit, with Sheehy’s most recent single ‘My Old Friend John’ hooking the third track. Speaking to Sheehy about this song in advance of his debut album release, he describes it as “one of those songs where you’re giving people a real story.” – read interview here
“He don’t drink the water, he worships the wine” Sheehy calls out. Not a song about one particular person, the lyrics flow to reflect many who become caught in the cycle of alcohol dependency. “This story is everywhere”, he says. It is for everyone who has lived through a similar story.
A collection of fourteen tracks, the album particularly captures the Dingle peninsula, the area in which Sheehy grew up and still resides. Melodic soundscapes enrapture the listener, and honest lyrics tell stories of friends, turbulent times and creativity as a vital life source. ‘I’m a loser but I’m not lost’ opens the song ‘Loser’, which acts as a diary entry in the search for self-acceptance.
The aim of this debut album for Sheehy is to encourage people to feel something. To understand a part of themselves that they had previously suppressed and to emerge ultimately, a little more understood.
‘Ghost Down The Lane’ and ‘The Night The School Burnt Down’ stand out as highlights of the album. Raw and pared back, they are tunes that evoke a sense of belonging in the turbulence of life. A dreamy interlude breaks up the album, breathing a sense of pause into the fourteen-track record.
An album of connection, lost friends and ultimately hope, it emerges self-assured after a turbulent journey through emotion and life experiences. Pa Sheehy has found his sound and, more than that, has created an album with the power to truly connect.