Love Is Watching Someone Die

What Sarah Said - Death Cab For Cutie

The origins of this blog were forged over a decade ago. I was a 20 year old boy who had never been laid and was still coming to terms with the death of my sister. I weighed 22 stone, spent my nights drinking in the pub and hid everything under a mask of laughter.  I loathed myself and things were about to get worse. One day whilst on my lunch break at work – at the time I was working a dead-end job as a purchase ledger clerk – I received a call.

“Mister Lawson?” asked a calm voice.

“Speaking,” I replied.

“This is Doctor Brookes; I’m in charge of your fathers care. Were you aware that he was admitted to hospital?”
“No, the last update I had was a month ago to tell me that he had gone back into full-time care.”

“I’m afraid to tell you that his condition has been deteriorating for some time and that this morning he collapsed on the ward. He’s stable… for now but it would be best if you could come into the hospital.”

It was a call I had been dreading but not prepared for.

The Subtext is Dire and The Sex is not on Fire

Eugene McGuinness - Lion

The NME / Top Man sponsored marketing machine that beguiles so many teenagers, had lured enough talented singer-songwriters into its shady midst over the last few years that i'd started to despair. So when I heard ‘Lion’ for the first time, I could almost see Eugene Mcguinness telling a room of the soulless executives to ‘sell their own fucking t-shirts’.

The new single is a gloriously vibrant (with added emphasis on the rant) unmasking of that deceitfully shallow world. A world that would welcome Eugene with open arms, and one that he whole heartily rejects. It has a similar 60’s pop rock sound that has served Miles Kane so well these past few months, but in the skilled hands of McGuinness it’s far more pleasing to the ear. The composition and metaphor filled songwriting are satisfyingly complex, delivered with hate filled energy at breakneck speed. Managing to forgo the endlessly repeating choruses that make Kane such a chore to listen to.

When asked about the meaning of track McGuinness stated "I really don't know what to say about this one, It's just meant to be the biggest 'fuck off' my soul could muster." Halle-fucking-lujah! So for now my faith in musician’s is restored. At least their are a few out there that value their music more than the money.

His forthcoming album, ‘The Invitation to the Voyage’ is due out in early 2012. To keep up to date with details of the album launch, sign up to his mailing list at http://www.eugenemcguinness.net/