Almighty appearance from Dempsey

DAMIEN Dempsey is bringing his brand new tour to Glór on November 29, following the release of his new album Almighty Love.

The new album was four years in the making, with songs written in Dublin and London.The album was quite eagerly awaited by fans who are drawn to his brand of folk/rock and his simple, but often gripping, lyrics.

 

Commenting on the new album, Dempsey said, “We could have stuck out an album with one or two crackers and the rest filler but I think I’d retire from song-writing and just play folk songs in pubs rather than put out what I thought was a half-arsed album.”

He had toyed with writing a different type of album but found it wasn’t really for him. “I went down a road of trying to write upbeat festival songs to jump around to but it didn’t work. There were some good melodies and grooves but the lyrics didn’t mean anything. I felt it was my job to try and do something different with every album. It was John Reynolds who sat me down one day and explained to me the importance of lyrics in my songs, which I had kind of forgotten for a little while. I came to realise that if someone wants festival songs and music to jump around to, there’s a thousand bands out there they can listen to at the touch of a button.

“I realised I needed to write something that I felt strongly about, that moved me, that I cared about. For a year or so I had forgotten what the lyrics mean to the audience and I had forgotten what they mean to me and how they got me through some horrible times. I had some nasty periods of despair over the last couple of years when I thought I’d lost the only thing I was ever good at. It’s a scary thing but gradually I started writing from the heart again and I listened to my old albums and they really picked me up. It’s good to see they still work on me. The songs still do the job I wrote them to do.”

Much of his work has been political in a broad sense, such as songs like Colony and Ghosts of Overdoses. He had to make sure he wasn’t putting people off by going back down already well-worn paths.

“I was writing lots of songs about the banks and the Government, songs that were mostly just facts, like a lecture. But people are being bombarded with this negative news about banks and Government corruption every day. Am I going to write an album that’s going to be like hearing the news and going to preach at people because I feel it’s my duty to write about this? I thought, nah.

The people won’t want a parallel running commentary on how we’re being scammed. They’ll want a solution rather than someone reiterating the problem and preaching to the converted. When I listen to the songs I realised I would have been pushing things down people’s throats. Maybe I should ask questions instead of pointing the finger. The people have had this stuffed down their throats every waking hour for years now.”

Ever socially conscious, the Donaghameade man has been involved in a number of projects for charities over the last few years. This year he was involved in recording the official Irish Euro 2012 song the Rocky Road to Poland. It reached number one in the Irish charts and all proceeds were donated to the John Giles Foundation and the Irish Cancer Society.

He also collaborated with renowned Irish graffiti artist Maser on the project They Are Us. Maser painted Dempsey’s lyrics on derelict buildings in Dublin, his bold colours and style transforming the poetry of lyrics into street art.

Another collaboration was with Glen Hansard, the Oscar winning songwriter. The two recorded a version of The Auld Triangle, which raised much-needed funds for the St Vincent De Paul’s Keep the Lights On campaign.