I know it’s wrong, and I’m supposed to do as George Michael suggested and listen without prejudice, but sometimes I’ll postpone listening to a CD because, well, frankly, I can’t be bothered. They land through my letterbox and into my inbox by the dozen every week and while I try to listen to them all, and in sequence, it just doesn’t happen that way. it’s inevitable that some will leapfrog toward the top of the pile and others will be infinitely deferred until after a year I realise it’s way too late to contemplate reviewing and besides, I’ll probably only put it off for as long again.
Mark Mulholland’s second album, ‘The Cactus and the Dragon’ has remained near the top of the to-play pile but kept being skipped over in favour of the one immediately below it. The wandering Glaswegian’s bio just didn’t grab me, and if I’m honest, I’m rarely in the mood for folk / country / blues musicians, even if they have done session work for Nikki Sudden and Captain Sensible.
On hearing the slightly grizzled pirate folk of ‘Why D’you Treat Me This Way’ I immediately begin to wonder if I’d misjudged Mr Mulholland. But then the second track, ‘Haunted feeling’ told me I’d been right all along. Over the course of the album’s thirteen tracks, I found myself scratching my head and unsure exactly which side of the fence I was on. Y’see, ‘The Cactus and the Dragon’ alternates compelling songwriting with, er, not so compelling songwriting.
Mulholland’s voice is a bit of a potential stumbling block. It’s a bit nasal, a bit gloopy, and it sounds like he’s singing really quietly, and then it’s been pitched up in the mix to compensate. Trouble is, it’s too high in the mix, and while there are some neatly considered lyrics, he doesn’t always deliver them in a fashion that does them justice. ‘Floodgates’ is a case in point, a bittersweet little ditty that would be great if only the vocals were more... I dunno. More anything.
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So while the string-led instrumental ‘This Time of Night’ is nicely poised, the jazzy non-instrumental ‘Footsteps on the Stairs’ is just frustratingly limp-sounding, while the country jig-along of ‘Middle Lane Driver’ is just frustrating. However, winding up with the feedback and noise-infused tension of the title track, the album does at least end strongly.
On balance, ‘The Cactus and the Dragon’ isn’t as drab as much of the workaday singer-songwriter folk fare that comes my way, and with some definite high points (in particular the aforementioned title track) it certainly didn’t deserve to be left unplayed for three months, but then by the same token, it’s not an album I’m likely to return to having given it a fair hearing.
Mark Mulholland Online
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