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EVENTS
Fred Irwin – Nights Like These
Indie | Tuesday 11th June 2013 | Conor
Nights Like These is the vastly introspective debut album from Southampton singer-songwriter Fred Irwin, released in November 2012, and it speaks out for every frustrated teenager out there. Let’s be brutally honest here, we all know that feeling of not wanting to grow up and become what is expected of you, because you know as well as I that waking up in a ditch is much more fun than working a 9 to 5, even if you can’t remember how you got there. Instead of being the conventional teenager who would complain to their tumblr followers, or isolate themselves in their room never wanting to resurface into the real world, Fred channelled his vexation and formed these splendid 10 songs.
Opener ‘I’m Getting Wasted Tonight’ is a short but sweet little ditty about, well, getting drunk surprisingly. As with every song on the album, the lyricism is as real and down to earth as it comes. Fred himself has cited Frank Turner as an influence, and that inspiration is evident here in this opening track.
‘Goodnight Irene’ is a raucous number of love lost, a theme which continues into the tender ‘Slip Away’ which leaves you reminiscing all those almost moments with that girl from college. ‘Find my Way Back Home’ leaves behind the failures in love, and makes the transition to yearning after a girl. Perhaps with flawed optimism, Fred makes reference to Romeo & Juliet. Maybe he forgot how that love affair ends, or just turned a blind eye. This newly found optimism lingers for a further track ‘To the Dogs’ but ultimately despair soon makes a dramatic return in ‘Where are you?’ This track is a somewhat accurate portrayal of the ugly side of relationships; the rows, the storm-outs and the wondering.
‘Don’t Panic’ asks the question everyone has thought at least once in their life and that is ‘why can’t you see what is right in front of you?’ Seeing a girl move through boys like a knife through air and being helpless to do anything about it sure as hell blows, an irritation that is evident in this track. The comically titled ‘Josh & Patches Find a Sombrero’ is pretty blunt in its intended meaning. Drink and sex. However, the clever wordplay of Fred saves it from pure vulgarity and somehow makes it a rather sweet tune, and one of the more surprising tracks on the album.
‘Crimson Skies’ sees Fred joined by fellow musician and the album’s producer Alistair Martin. Alistair’s production of the album is excellent, making it difficult to tell this was ever recorded in Fred’s bedroom. ‘Wasted With You’ provides the perfect album closer. The lyric ‘time enjoyed wasting, isn’t time wasted at all’ resonates through and hits home as a refreshing outlook on life and one that more people should adhere to.
All in all, what we have here is an excellent and mature album from Fred, providing a running commentary of his latter teenage years that feels horrifically personal, and yet will undoubtedly leave any listener looking back over their wonder years and wondering if more could have been made of them.
By Conor Giles
