Meath singer/songwriter Eugene Donegan released his eagerly anticipated debut album Little Apples on March 27.
Love is seldom far from Eugene’s mind, and it’s the kind that seldom works out. Dissecting failed relationships and lamenting lost love over the course of an album is a bleak prospect, but Eugene’s stunning musical settings somehow manage to uplift the listener, or at least break their fall.
In the fragile beauty of ‘Loved You Too Much’ and ‘Martha’s Field’, Eugene equals any of Ryan Adams’ haunting ballads of loss, while in the country-tinged ‘Tonight Is The Night’ he echoes the honest, heart-warming delivery of his hero Kris Kristofferson. He even doffs his cap to compatriot Paul Brady in the opening bars of the ambitious ‘The Gods Are With Us’.
However, under the guidance of producer and collaborator Declan O’Rourke, Little Apples’ charm lies in Eugene’s ability to confidently forge a style which is uniquely his own. Eugene Donegan’s debut marks a new voice in the pantheon of Irish storytellers, it is now only a matter of time before it is heard.
Eugene has spent the last two years playing the length and breadth of Ireland supporting the likes of Damien Dempsey, Duke Special, Cathy Davey, and Declan O’Rourke, as well as performing his own gigs with backing band Geriko.
Eugene plays in the Yukon Bar, Mullingar on Thursday April 9, and in Passionfruit Theatre, Athlone on Sunday April 12.
