Eileen Gogan and The Instructions: The Spirit of Oberlin - Album Review

Many musicians and songwriters prefer to swap adulation for sitting in front of, and behind, mixing desks.

One such is Eileen Gogan, who over the past 20 years has lent her talents to an array of Irish bands that have resolutely failed to win wide commercial favour.

Not to worry – Gogan’s voice is drop-dead gorgeous, and on this, her debut under her own name, it arrives front and centre.

Named after John Frederick Oberlin, a 19th-century French pastor who dedicated his life's work to social reform, the album exudes Byrds/Americana-influenced pop music smarts in songs such as Nothing's for Certain, Murmuration and Day of Respite.

Intelligence seeps from every track, the cumulative effect, surely, of being someone who doesn’t see the value in following any dream that isn’t their own.

[ eileengogan.com ]