Paddy Casey is set to release his fifth album ‘Turn This Ship Around’. The double album is set for release on 6th of August 2021. I caught up with the singer-songwriter to talk about the album and the return of shows, the prospect which has been giving the artist dreams about getting up on stage and forgetting his songs.
“Well, for me, I had a lot of songs that I didn’t think they really fit but, I haven’t released an album in a few years, so I didn’t want to wait a few years more, I suppose. I had these songs and I really liked them, and I know that sounds naff, saying that about your own songs, but I did. Some of the songs, I didn’t think they fit together but I thought they were strong songs, so I decided because it’s been so long, to just split them in two and make one side kind of folky, stringy and piano-y or whatever and then the other side would be more full-on and upbeat.”
The first half of ‘Turn This Ship Around’ is energetic and lively while the second half of the album is a lot more laid-back and boasts wonderful use of elegant piano and strings or guitar and strings. Through the use of lush melodies and rich instrumentation, both sides flow into each other perfectly while allowing each track to maintain its own identity.
“Oh yeah completely. One song,’ You Are The One’, I really liked but I just didn’t feel like it belongs there at all. I played it to a couple of people, my daughter heard it and I know you can’t really ask your family but, she seemed to think it was great and then a couple of other people thought it should have even been a single. I really liked the sound but I didn’t think it fit but then I went.. do you know what, I don’t know where to put the song, so I’m just gonna plonk it in the middle. Honest to God, I didn’t know where to put it and I just went, well there’s no place it belongs, so I’ll just stick it there.“
“Honestly, I don’t have a plan when I write an album, I really don’t. I write the songs and then I just kind of go, well there’s some songs that I think people will like. I don’t do concepts, the only concept is, maybe like another thing I’m working on is a disco album, but there has to be only three instruments in every song. I know that sounds stupid but you know, it’s fun if you give yourself rules like that sometimes. You’re right, the songs, they all grew in their own little worlds. It’s me on different days, you know, everyone has their weird days and they’re up and down days.”
The album begins with energetic tunes ‘Won’t Take Much’ and ‘This World Is Stranger’ which are absolute bangers. Not only does the singer-songwriter lace the tracks in catchy melodies but in a true Paddy Casey style, thought-provoking lyrics resound throughout. A perfect example of this is in ‘This World Is Stranger’, where Casey croons over a bouncy melody “ I know some people say we’ve never been up to the moon. What difference does that make to me if that thing has no gravity or if it’s all technology that someone left for us to see What difference does it really make to me”. Casey hits the nail on the head with social and political topics taking a relatable and light-hearted stance that is charming and witty.
“I don’t really care either way politically. I mean I think it’s all nonsense, most of the time, what matters is the way people feel at the end of it, how they feel about themselves and how they look at themselves. When all that bullsh*t is gone, all that’s really left is how we treat each other. It sounds slightly pretentious but, I think at the core of everything, maybe for that song, ‘This World Is Stranger’, that’s all I’m really talking about, none of this bullsh*t matters. The world isn’t such a small place you know. Let yourself feel the things that you naturally felt as a kid, that you might have pushed aside. It’s not something, we all don’t know. I think sometimes musicians, point out the obvious, sometimes you need to hear the obvious. But yeah, for me it’s like, there’s enough people in the world trying to make it smaller for you without doing it to yourself.“
There are plenty of musical gems on this album. ‘Turn This Ship Around’ in particular exudes a cinematic atmosphere filled with synths, strings, piano and ethereal soundscapes that keep subtly building throughout. The song sounds as if it was written for a movie.
“I can’t remember, that’s a few years old now, I actually don’t remember how I started it. I think I just started with a piano. It’s a breakup song. I mean if I haven’t written it in the lyrics, I’m not really doing a good job, I suppose you find yourself out on that abyss, or like this kind of no man’s land and you know you’re hanging on to something that’s not really coming back, and you’re missing out on everything else because you’re doing that. I wanted that to happen in the chorus, that decision to happen. So it [the chorus] had to be big and it had to be like, f*ck it, let’s do this, let’s do something else, let’s go for another world. I’m not great at explaining my songs but there definitely had to be two different worlds, there was the guy who was, out there lost, and then there’s the guy who was like, I could spend the rest of my days looking for something.”
Casey blends an array of lush sounds that create subtle bursts of musical euphoria throughout his songs. From the electronic pulses and swaggering guitars in ‘Ready For The Good Times’ and the sugar pop rhythmic bop of ‘You Are The One’, each track is a delight to listeners ears. I wondered does he ever get overwhelmed discovering these perfect musical blends and moments of inspiration when creating his songs.
“I think this is the first time I’ve ever said this, but when I’m writing a song, I will sometimes start, and just sit there and actually sing the song line by line like when I’m recording it, and I won’t have any lyrics in my head beforehand bar, the first line. I’ll know where I want it to go. Sometimes I write like that and sometimes, the next line just feeds, how I want the music to feel if that makes sense. Sometimes I play it line by line because sometimes I literally don’t know what I’m gonna do. I know in my heart what I want the song to say, but I haven’t written the words if you know what I mean. So I will just sing it and I’ll know the line feels right, I’ll know it’s not perfect but it’s pure heart.”
“ I don’t know what people think about my songs. I know they love certain songs, and I don’t understand why they love them. It’s not a problem, but it used to get me. I was like, why don’t I get what they get off that song or why don’t I understand it or whatever. Now I’m just grateful that they do. You know, that’s their world and that’s the way they feel and I know why I wrote the song, but I always feel like maybe, I shy away from emotions a little bit sometimes. I’m not really great saying how I feel, I suppose. Maybe that’s what makes me kind of weird and uncomfortable about it.”
“I have songs that I wrote when I was a kid that people love and for me, it’s like if somebody read your copybook when you were in school or wherever, all the sh*t you’d written you know, to me it’s a little bit like that. But I put it out into the world so I should be able to accept that.”
I wondered if Casey often looks back at his older songs and thinks, if he could do it again, he would change them.
”Yeah, the first album [Amen (So Be It)], we literally went in and banged it out. I just picked up whatever instruments were in the studio. We had two days, it was supposed to be demos. So, it was just literally me just having fun for a couple of days doing demos, but that’s what I thought it was. So, there’s definitely a few things on that I’d love another go at but I’d ruin it for people if I recorded them”
‘There Will Be Love’ begins the second half of the album – radiating a mystical atmosphere and a captivating cello arrangement, Casey blends folk tones with warm guitar, ethereal soundscapes and Traditional Japanese undertones to create a timeless and beautiful tune that is simply divine.
“There is a Japanese girl playing on that and you can kind of hear the bit of a Japanese vibe and there is a girl playing cello as well so there is two string players on that one.”
“She was singing with us because she’s a friend of my daughter’s and she gigs with my daughter, So yeah, I’ll rope in anyone who’s around but they were doing gigs with me and so I was dragging her on stage in my set or whatever and she’d just jam in. She’s a great, great violin player and the cello player I’ve been playing with for years so I drag her away from her kids for a day or two, as often as I can, just to record stuff.“
Casey is hoping to do live shows soon to accompany the release of the album. However, the absence of gigging due to the pandemic has caused a sense of anxiety and nerves for the singer-songwriter as he anticipates the return of live shows.
“That’s the plan, It depends on what the government say, in their next rollout. I can live a little bit longer but they want to get it together soon. Even if it’s just outside, anything you know. It’s a long time to leave us in the lurch”
“I’m sh**ting it, excuse the language. I don’t know what’s gonna happen when I walk on the stage, I mean, it’s the stuff of nightmares. Gigging, for me, it’s like, I don’t think about what I’m doing before I walk on the stage, and somehow it just, comes together, like the first few songs I might be a little bit nervous but it kind of kicks in, I’m kind of hoping that the muscle memory, still kind of works, you know. I should practice because my voice is definitely not up for doing a few gigs in a row. I’d say I’ll have to sing a bit every day now before I start. I get hangovers from gigs, like the next day. I don’t know maybe it’s the breathing, I’ve always tried to figure out what it is but maybe it’s because you’re breathing, you’re singing and you’re breathing so fast, or something. Yeah, you’re breathing differently than you do normally. It could be just pure adrenaline for that long, maybe makes you feel a bit sore, I’m not complaining but I definitely get a weird hangover off gigging. I think you just give an energy that you don’t really use every day in your life, [ it ] sounds stupid because you don’t get a hangover from running around the block. But yeah, I’m nervous and I’m slightly anxious of doing a gig. I’ve definitely dreamt about getting up on stage and forgetting songs or not being able to sing a song or get through a song, and then the crowd just walking out and things like that, just weird things. There’s a certain degree of the unknown and fear factor when I walk on a stage. I think it’s a good thing to have it. If you walk on stage with no feeling at all, you might as well be sitting in your sitting room watching telly. You have to feel something. As soon as I start walking on stage, and I’m not a bit freaked out, then maybe it’s time to stop. “
The musician has been at the forefront of the Irish music scene since his multi-platinum-selling debut album ‘Amen (So Be It)’, His career has taken him all over the globe touring with acts such as The Pretenders, R.E.M, Ian Brown, Blondie and Tracy Chapman to name a few. He has played all over Ireland, including a record-breaking week-long run in The Olympia Theatre, alongside special guest spots with U2, Pearl Jam, Bob Dylan and more. His successful debut album ‘Amen (So Be It)’ achieved many international highlights including tracks being featured in hit television shows such as ‘Dawson’s Creek’ and ‘Roswell’ alongside extensive American and European tours. Further establishing himself as one of the country’s most successful artists, his second album ‘Living’ went on to become one of the biggest ever selling albums in Ireland (approximately 15 times platinum). I asked Casey if he had any advice for anyone who is embarking on a career in music.
“I think it’s different now. I don’t think you need a record label now. If you’re really good at pushing yourself online you can do as well as anyone. So it’s a different world. For me, the only rule, I had at the time was, just play everywhere and play to as many people as you can in the beginning. Don’t be a snob about gigs, don’t be a snob about anything because people are people and it doesn’t matter where they see you, you know, where you see them. I think the best thing to do is just put yourself out there in front of people because that’s where you learn everything when you’re standing there. You don’t learn it sitting in your room. You learn it forged in the fire. The truth is you really learn everything while you’re doing it and no amount of pontification is going to help you. I think the kids are brilliant now, lyrically people have come a long way. Maybe people are better at their feelings now or something I don’t know but it’s a good thing”
“They don’t rhyme anymore. Everything needed to rhyme when we were starting. Nobody gives a sh*t about rhyming anymore and it’s cool, it works. I still rhyme all the time. I don’t know are kids smarter, smarter in some ways, you know, the internet, Spotify as much as I hate it and it killed the business, it’s great for getting music out there because people don’t necessarily want to spend money but they want to hear your music, you know,”
Casey isn’t one to sit still. He is writing music all the time and even has a musical in the works.
“ I’m always writing songs. I’m writing some great songs at the minute. As soon as I release the album I’ll sit down and I’ll try and finish off a bunch of new songs. I’m gonna try and get a new album out by next year and even if it’s not an album, because they say you shouldn’t even bother releasing albums anymore. I mean even just EP’s or whatever, you know, people only want songs now. I always love albums and I love what people are trying to do with albums. I don’t necessarily do it myself, like I was saying earlier, my album is kind of a bit Higgledy Piggledy or whatever but I love when somebody gets together and the whole vibe of the album feels cohesive. But I am a Prince fan and Prince did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. In the beginning, when I make it [an album], I want to make myself happy with it. I want to feel that excitement of a song, whether it’s the emotion or whether it’s the style, it has to be in there somewhere. Once I get that I’m like, Okay, I hope other people get that too or something. I don’t really know what I’m doing and that’s the truth. You’re not making the chair, you know, if all you had to do was somebody would sit and it was comfortable and it didn’t break, at least you know that’s what an album should be but it’s not like that. There’s no rule. Most of my favourite music is random. I love Parliament but, you know, from one album to the next, they’re a completely different band and that rubbed off a bit. You don’t want to write the same song again ever. I’m doing a musical and the best thing about the musical is I can write a love song. It’s not necessarily me, you know what I mean, I know that sounds stupid but I don’t want to write ‘Saints And Sinners’, again, or I don’t want to rewrite ‘Sweet Suburban Sky’ even though I think I could write it better now. I’ve just been doing it [the musical] in my head for years anyway. It’s only because of lockdown I kind of, consciously set out to do it. I’ve been writing and a guy I’ve been working with over the years he mixed one side of this album and he always thought I was writing a musical from the day we met. That’ll be two years at least. That will take a while, it’s actual work.“
‘Turn This Ship Around’ is a sublime collection of songs that showcase Casey’s deft musical prowess. Each tracks intricate instrumentation and emotive lyrical content are a fine display of beautiful musicianship. This double album is a real treat for listeners to indulge in again and again.
‘Turn This Ship Around’ will be released on the 6th of August for more you can follow Paddy Casey on Facebook here https://www.facebook.com/PaddyCaseyOFFICIAL/
Stream the single, ‘Won’t Take Much’, taken from the album below
Author: Danu
