James Vincent McMorrow: The Less I Knew — Craftsmanship distilled

Has anyone managed to figure out James Vincent McMorrow yet? In many ways, the Dublin musician’s career to date has been a series of contradictions. He is an artist who courts the mainstream and maintains healthy pockets of fan bases around the world, yet he regularly makes career choices that have probably turned his manager’s hair prematurely grey — such as releasing two impromptu albums close together (as he has done in the past with ‘True Care’ and now with this, the first of two full-length releases in 2022), or deciding to forego promotional duties for a record (as he has also done this time around).

Given the lengthy missives that accompany each release explaining song themes and lyrics, it’s not a huge stretch to assume that the thirtysomething Dubliner is an overthinker. Is he too cerebral for his own good sometimes, instead of just allowing his music to do the talking?

Thankfully, The Less I Knew does just that. With just eight tracks, it’s McMorrow’s most concise record to date (his second set of eight songs, ‘The Heavweight Champion of Dublin 8′, is released in autumn.) There have been thrilling moments on previous albums, but this feels like a distillation of his craftsmanship as a songwriter and arguably the album that best sums him up.

As always his shtick has a soulfulness, from the slouchy groove of lead single Hurricane to the dazed, half-giddy late-night experimentation of closer A Lot to Take, a song that epitomises McMorrow’s talent for sonic U-turns. Lighten Up similarly stitches a multitude of disparate elements together, borrowing from the smooth R’n’B of Anderson Paak and Bruno Mars’s collaboration Silk Sonic and his own indie roots. He leaves room to sidestep into louche ‘90s alt-rock on the superb The Reason I Died, while the title track and I Am a Masterpiece will sate fans of his pared-back, understated acoustic compositions, his ear for evocative lyrical detail especially evident on the former, a beautifully honest narration of the complex and mundane aspects of a relationship ( “Of slow collapsing sunlight that ends another day / Of waiting for the next one to start again.”)

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Steven, meanwhile, has been heralded by McMorrow as the track that kick-started this double album cycle; written during a visit to his hometown of Malahide last year, when he was contemplating moving back with his own family, its pacy soul-pop thump is tinged with bittersweetness. Even so, it seems that in recognising the old adage ‘You can’t go home again’, McMorrow has crafted one of his most truthful and accomplished records so far. Jamesvmcmorrow.com