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David Turpin’s first album, the stark, secretive The Sweet Used-to-be, was among the most critically acclaimed Irish debuts of 2008. Now he returns with Haunted! Earning its exclamation mark with 11 boundlessly inventive, sparklingly melodic songs, Turpin’s sophomore offering is the Oz to his debut’s Kansas.
Haunted! is a wide-ranging but focused pop record that combines the conceptual rigor of Laurie Anderson, the open-hearted experimentation of Arthur Russell, and the oddly soothing spookiness of The Cure with the taut rhythms of contemporary R&B and electro.
Drawing upon a set of songs largely whipped up in eerie isolation at the foot of Co. Carlow’s Blackstairs Mountains, Turpin completed the album over a period of 18 months. The end result is seamless, bound together by Turpin’s own meticulous production and luscious co-production and mix work by Stephen Shannon, acclaimed studio magician and member of Choice Prize-nominated band Halfset.
Guests on the album include Cathy Davey, who lends her singular vocals to ‘The Red Elk’, and Conor O’Brien of hotly-tipped act Villagers, who contributes guitar to four songs and sings on a fifth. The album’s swelling strings come from virtuoso player Cora Venus Lunny, who contributed up to 60 layers of violin and viola apiece to seven songs.
Track listing:
1. Cowards Bend The Knee
2. The Bone Dance
3. Heart-Beep
4. Dorothy Gale
5. King Of Swords
6. The Skeleton Key
7. Nightlights
8. Polar Song
9 .The Red Elk
10. Melmoth
11. Hymn To The Lighthouse
12. Puddinghead
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