The Drink – Playground (Melodic Records)
Latest single from an album ( Company ) that might have slipped under the radar because of its pre-Christmas release. Lead singer and songwriter/guitarist Dearbhla Minogue is Irish but her two colleagues are English, the band is London-based and to be honest this is not the sort of music you would expect to spring up in Ireland. It’s playful (too playful to flourish on this old sod, I’d maintain - she had previous links with the Popical Island people which is a broad church), gleefully flitting across genres but managing to retain a seriousness of intent through considerable musical chops. This tune is a prime example featuring dancing hi life guitars, restless time signatures (you’ll see Deerhoof referenced favourably in reviews of the band and justifiably) and an arrangement that seems to combine three or four songs mashed together. A mish-mash it isn’t though presumably because each melody is so singalong accessible. Minogue has a particularly endearing voice, capable...