The Boy Who Trapped The Sun – Fireplace
The Boy Who Trapped The Sun – Fireplace
9/10
Colin MacLeod a.k.a. The Boy Who Trapped The Sun has been knocking at my posting door for the last year or so. To be honest I was not totally convinced about it at first, however Fireplace has won me over. Dropping July 12th on Geffen Records, I’m pretty sure it will you as well.
There is a slightly ironic story behind my love of the album, having not realised I had received it a while back I requested a fresh copy. Little did I realise that my wife had been listening to it in the car stereo for a month! In fact, I had commented on how much I loved the cd in her player.
This is a record that builds, right from the gentle opener ‘Golden’ up to the killer track ‘I See You’. From there on in it never looks back. Colin has an easy vocal delivery that sits well amongst the arrangement of piano, guitar and strings. You can sense more than a passing nod to the master of all things Americana, Neil Young, on ‘Thorn In Your Side’. By the time you reach ‘Telescope MacLeod’. the record has you in an almost trance-like state as he lays himself bare.
As with all great lyrically-driven records you feel that you have a pretty good insight into the man behind the music as the record unfolds. This debut has been a long time in the making as he was given a major label publishing deal some three years ago. Colin himself has been making his way in the industry for the last six years and this album shows the fruits of paying your dues the hard way. For me every artist should have the two men and a dog gigging experience, it’s the way towards a career of longevity. Listening to album closer ‘Antique Cobweb’, it’s pretty clear to me that this is just the start and while he may not trap the sun this boy will burn brightly for years to come.
The mp3 is a beautiful cover of The Smiths ‘There Is A light That Never Goes’ out that I first heard about a year ago. I love the sympathetic delivery and the empathy that is evident in this version.
PS – Be sure to listen on after the album finishes for a beautiful tone poem half in Gaelic that is a tribute to his home island of Lewis!
Sounds like a daydream