Patrick Kelleher – You Look Cold EP

Somewhere far below the dross infested peak of Mount Delorento, strange and wonderful rumblings are now emanating from the Irish underground. A vanguard of bands including Bats, Halves and now Wicklow native Patrick Kelleher are quietly establishing a confident and diverse underground scene which is rife with imagination and innovation. Kelleher’s new six track EP ‘You Look Cold’ is a strikingly assured exercise in evocative, experimental pop that deserves notice. In the space of 18 minutes, these curious songs demonstrate a restless imagination that flits between diverse reference points. There is reined in 70s prog excess (‘Coat to Wear’ and ‘Wintertime’s Doll’), Moldy Peaches style acoustic whimsy (‘Boy named Suzy Q’) and a distinct hum of the woozy dreamlike hiss of Atlas Sound in opening track ‘Wonder’. Kelleher also displays an obvious love of and mastery of musical texture. Relatively simple vocal melodies come swathed in distant hums, cracks and, at one unnerving point, what sounds like the chant of a monk slowly rotating on a pedestal. What ties this rag bag of influences together is hard to pin down, but something sure does, because ‘You Look Cold’ is more than the sum of its occasionally ephemeral parts. Indeed it is a very satisfying overall listen. Confidently odd and well worth checking out.