Sow Mare Bitch Vixen – Fionn Regan
Just before I started my Christmas vacation I watched Shane Meadows excellent TV mini series, This Is England ’88. It’s soundtrack alerted me to a new album by Fionn Regan, an artist that I had not completely forgotten, but had neglected to check for a while. Since then, I’ve been catching up on Regan’s latest album, 100 Acres of Sycamore and whilst it still doesn’t match up to his unforgettable folk debut, The End Of History a couple of it’s songs are well worth a listen. “Sow Mare Bitch Vixon” is one, it’s sparse sounds of delicately picked acoustic guitars and whispered violins are held together by Regan’s beautifully resonant voice. What’s really surprising are the lyric’s, Regan, who tends to overuse metaphors, has shown uncharacteristic restraint and kept them simple. This gives the song elegance, which in the face of the bratty verses being pumped out by Ed Sheeran, is a timely reminder of how haunting one man and his guitar can sound.