From halfway between Belfast and Dublin, David Keenan sits halfway between Van Morrison and Samuel Beckett. His debut record 'A Beginners' Guide To Bravery' draws heavily on the music and poetry of the Irish greats. However, even an untrained ear will pick up the strains of Christy Moore, The Waterboys, Jeff Buckley, Tom Waits, and Bob Dylan amongst others.
The 27-year-old from Dundalk, Co. Louth has listened to all the greats and in 2020, the greats are listening to him. This epic long-player has been hotly anticipated. The likes of Hozier, Glen Hansard, and Gary Lightbody have sung the praises of young Keenan.
It all happened live over the course of a week in the Dublin Mountains and my intention was to retain all the rawness and vulnerability, madness and unfiltered truths that make me who I am. A collaboration between chaos and calm in a world where the same laws do not apply.
The sparse instrumentation, recorded in the Dublin Mountains, calls to mind Jeff Buckley’s ‘Grace’ at times. And yet, there’s a frantic fervour to the lyrics. They stumble awkwardly at times, all accent and attitude, like a drunkard braving the cold at closing time.
David Keenan sticks to the tried and tested themes of the great Irish storytellers. These are songs for the common person, for the poets, the drunks, and the blue-collar workers. It lends an air of authority and a sense that Keenan is either wiser than his years or world-weary before thirty.
With a handful of tracks ‘Love In A Snug’, ‘Origin Of The World’, and ‘Subliminal Dublinia’, clocking in at over 7 minutes each, Keenan is not afraid to ramble and roll. Opening track ‘James Dean’ sets the tone right down to the spoken introduction. This is as close to a live album as one man can lay down in a studio.
There is nothing new in Keenan’s approach to ‘A Beginners’ Guide To Bravery’. The influences are noticeable and worn on his sleeve with unashamed pride. The songs themselves tell of tales as old as time. And so, David Keenan’s debut record somehow equals more than the sum of its parts. Catch the full experience on tour around Ireland, the UK, and Europe in March 2020.