{"id":25124,"date":"2014-01-23T16:40:29","date_gmt":"2014-01-23T16:40:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-mark-mccabe-good-ways-to-bury-bad\/"},"modified":"2018-03-17T15:33:19","modified_gmt":"2018-03-17T15:33:19","slug":"album-review-mark-mccabe-good-ways-to-bury-bad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/album-review-mark-mccabe-good-ways-to-bury-bad\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Mark McCabe – Good Ways to Bury Bad News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"Mark McCabe<\/strong>, Scottish singer-songwriter, is by no means to be confused with Mark McCabe<\/strong>, Irish singer-songwriter. The latter, a former pirate radio DJ, did manage to scoop up two Irish music awards for his musical efforts. The former, meanwhile, has all his awards to come. That is, if second album ’Good Ways to Bury Bad News’<\/em> is anything to go by, because the follow-up to the Aberdeen-based artist\u2019s debut effort is a showcase of award-winning potential.<\/p>\n

\u2018Summer in Scotland is But a Word\u2019<\/em> acts as a prelude for what is to come, McCabe<\/strong>\u2019s voice making itself over heard a few chords that soon lead into actual opening track \u2018Doubts\u2019<\/em>. It\u2019s a solid introduction; a laid-back, slowly building sign of what\u2019s to come. Lyrically it\u2019s a good start too, which is cause for relief. Strong lyrics are at least 75% of a solo artist\u2019s success, and McCabe<\/strong> has it 100% down in his second record\u2019s opening stages. \u2018Easy for Me to Say\u2019<\/em> and \u2018Crutches\u2019<\/em> are no different, slow-paced but heartfelt and delivered confidently with all the musicianship of a truly promising artist. \u2018Catch the Wind\u2019<\/em> is a little more folk-driven, a quicker pace and fiddle backing, highlighting McCabe<\/strong>\u2019s ability to hop between styles rather easily. There\u2019s a Dave Hause-esque feel to the piece, and it\u2019s refreshing to know that McCabe<\/strong> isn\u2019t bound to a single sound.<\/p>\n

‘A Good Way To Bury Bad News’ by Mark McCabe<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bit of a shame to look up during \u2018Welcome Party\u2019<\/em> and realise that the album is already over half way to its conclusion, but the second half of the record is where the Aberdeensman really shines. \u2018This City and I Have a Lot in Common\u2019<\/em> is a sombre affair, another change of pace on an album that had previously confined itself to a more positive and upbeat atmosphere. Both \u2018This City\u2026\u2019<\/em> and \u2018Being Lost Presents You with a Better Chance to Be Found\u2019<\/em> carry a more heavy-hearted and pensive sound, and the latter of the two, the album\u2019s longest track, is also one of its standout efforts; the emotion of the piece benefiting it greatly on this occasion. \u2018My Disguise is Better than Yours\u2019<\/em> is the album\u2019s penultimate effort, as well as a return to the \u201cslowly-growing toe-tapper\u201d sound that McCabe<\/strong> seems to favour most. It\u2019s usually a choice between the two; resounding, almost anthemic or more withdrawn and sombre sounds, and it\u2019s a huge mark in McCabe<\/strong>\u2019s favour that he can nail the two with equal aplomb.<\/p>\n

Scottish voices are made for acoustic, really. Whether it\u2019s So Many Animal Calls, Campfires in Winter or the outstanding Frightened Rabbit, the evidence speaks for itself. But as \u2018Join the Crowd\u2019<\/em> sees things close out for ’Good Ways to Bury Bad News’<\/em> with an impressively Turner-esque lyrical sound, McCabe<\/strong>\u2019s voice shines brighter than most. There is a lot more to be done before you think of labelling him Scotland\u2019s answer to Frank Turner, and I\u2019m hesitant to say whether you\u2019d want to. McCabe<\/strong> is one of those artists left to his own category, as there is still a lot more to be uncovered when it comes to his potential. You can never have too many acoustic musicians in your libraries, and with this record, McCabe<\/strong> has set himself up as one with the opportunity to seriously break out from the competition. There is more to be done, and right now the Scotsman is lacking that really memorable, name-making track but it\u2019s a solid start, and there hopefully will be much more to come.<\/p>\n

3.5\/5<\/p>\n

\u2018Good Ways to Bury Bad News\u2019 <\/em>by Mark McCabe<\/strong>is out now on Cats? Aye! Records <\/strong>and Shield Recordings<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Mark McCabe<\/strong>\u00a0links: Facebook<\/a>|Twitter<\/a>|Bandcamp<\/a>|Website<\/a><\/p>\n

Words by Antony Lusmore (@Metacosmica<\/a>)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark McCabe, Scottish singer-songwriter, is by no means to be confused with Mark McCabe, Irish singer-songwriter. The latter, a former pirate radio DJ, did manage to scoop up two Irish music awards for his musical efforts. The former, meanwhile, has all his awards to come. That is, if second album ’Good Ways to Bury Bad […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25125,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,8181],"tags":[5879,9974,11037,6957,226],"class_list":["post-25124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","category-post","tag-album-reviews","tag-cats-aye-records","tag-good-ways-to-bury-bad-news","tag-mark-mccabe","tag-shield-recordings"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlbum Review: Mark McCabe - Good Ways to Bury Bad News - Already Heard Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mark McCabe, Scottish singer-songwriter, is by no means to be confused with Mark McCabe, Irish singer-songwriter. 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