Eoin Shannon – Highs & Lows (Album Review)

Today’s review features Eoin Shannon’s new album “Highs and Lows”. Eoin is an Ireland/Cork based singer/songwriter. I previously reviewed Eoin’s album “Hello Forever” and gave it an excellent rating. You can read that review here.

Eoin is back, saying he has written lyrics for all the tracks on this new album. Working with musician Tom Savage, who is responsible for the music on 11 of the album’s tracks, and Larry Magee created the music for the song “I Could Fall In Love Again”. Zhoca and Romacoolguy created the music for the remix of Pull The Plug/Pull the Curtain.

Harmonies and background vocals were provided by Makeda Rose (Demon Lady, God Only Knows), Chanele McGuinness (Pull the Plug/Pull the Curtain), Ross Harmon (God Only Knows, I Could Fall in Love Again), Gaby Duboisjoli (Fall into Your Arms, Happiness Has Come to Town), Tom Savage (The Closer You’re to God, Sad Sad Little Man, Captain my Captain), and finally, Zhoca (Pull the Plug/Pull the Curtain Remix).

So let’s have a listen …

The first song on the album is Going Through Hell. “I met her in the Summer, got lost in her gaze, all of a sudden, I’m trapped in her maze.” The lyrics already stand out on this album. The slow music underneath creates a parlor room feel. Eoin’s voice definitely has character floating on top of a lovely, ever-changing instrument arrangement. I like the lead guitar in the background on this song; very 50s R&B vibe. Good start to the album.

Fall Into Your Arms Again, the second song on the album, starts right off with the vocals and Gaby Duboisjoli singing parallel background parts with Eoin’s lead vocals. “I want to fall into your arms again” is the chorus refrain. I really like the chord transitions in the middle bridge of this song. The song sounds like it has a key change towards the end of the song. The main refrain gets cumbersome after a while as it is repeated so much.

God Only Knows starts off with a somber male voice and female background vocals by Makeda Rose. There is a very “folk” character about this song, the arrangement of the lead and backing vocals is quite masterful. I like with the male backing vocals by Ross Harmon kick in. The instrumentation on this track is fairly sparse – drums. bass, and guitar.

One Crazy Day starts with “you’re too good to be true, I can’t breathe without you”. The lyrics are really nice on this album, if you like songs that you can follow and sing along with. Very nice atmospheric electric lead guitar on this track. I love how they worked the middle bridge in this song. Excellent sweet female backing vocals playing with the guitar’s melody. The song has a dark “streets of the city” type feel. Very Leonard Cohen.

Happiness Has Come to Town starts with a lovely piano vibe. I’m loving the strings in this piece. The background vocals blend really well with Eoin’s strong Celtic voice. The song creates a dark emotional mood. I really like the arrangement of this song, keeps it interesting from start to finish. The song breaks down with piano and a viola or violin over the vocals. The song is nicely constructed from a songwriting POV. The pianist does a lovely job on this song.

I Could Fall in Love Again, the sixth song on the album. “I am taken by your innocence, your purity”. The song’s lyrics a bit self-deprecating. I’m loving the electric guitar high-gain riffs dispersed throughout the song. Listening to the lead guitar solo, very tasteful. Eoin has a good voice for this kind of music. The backing vocals sound very ethereal and create a wall of voices behind the main vocal. Still loving the lead guitarist here.

Pull the Plug/Pull the Curtain starts with a lovely arpeggiated guitar riff. Then Eoin’s vocals kick in, accompanied by a Chanele McGuinness singing parallel lyrics. The electric guitar is fuzzed out, so that’s cool. It’s nice to hear the mix of Celtic instrumentation mixed with more modern sounds. This is a very nice folk song, well-mixed, well-constructed. It could be my favorite song on the album so far.

Sad Sad Little Man. “I’m just a sad sad little man, trying to fight each day the best I can.” The electric guitars create a nice background for the vocal, and I’m loving the odd chord changes, which make it very interesting to hear. Then another stellar lead guitar solo. “Angels hear my prayers” as the middle bridge kicks in. “Help me through my pain.” I’m really digging the lyrics and arrangement of this song.

Demon Lady starts with a mix of background vocals against several electric guitars. The song is very cinematic and definitely creates that “demon” mood. I love that Eoin’s team always creates very musically interesting tracks. Eventually, a compressed lead guitar enters the fray. I like the use of staccato chord strikes to create emotion. Emotion is key. “I think the devil took her soul” is the final repeating refrain of the song. Ending with an eclectic electric lead guitar solo. Epic!

The Closer You Are to God starts with a lead guitar slow solo against Eoin’s Celtic voice. Nice acoustic guitar, then the drums come in. I’m really liking the lyrics, with lines like “the darkness finds out just where I’ve been.” When you’re heart is pure, when your heart is true, that’s when the darkness will find you.” I’m really digging the bouncy lead guitar licks, reminds me of The Eagles. “The closer you are to God, the closer you are to evil, that’s when the dark will find you.” Creates a great sonic picture.

When I Look into Your Eyes “I see the sun, I see heaven, … I see my future children’s eyes.” Nice lyric writing. This is a bossa nova tune. A little bit different than the other songs on the album. The drums are very sparse – sounds like a single wood block and a snare. Nice backing male vocals.

Captain My Captain (Lord and Savior), “I’m out of control, lost my heart and lost my soul”. Very nice lead guitar creating a falling curtain of sound. The bass and drums stand out on this track for their simplicity, everything where it needs to be. “She made me walk the plank.” Very tasty electric lead guitar solo after the middle vocal bridge. The lyrics are excellent, creating quite a word picture.

Pull the Plug/Pull the Curtain (Zhoca/Romacoolguy Mix) – is a remix of the earlier song on the album, which was already my favorite song on the album. This is a dance remix, keyboard sounds very 80s disco. Zhoca sings lead vocals with Eoin here. What an exceptional voice she has.

What I love about Eoin Shannon’s new album is just how interesting and compelling every song is. Hat’s off to Tom Savage, who created most of the instrument tracks, and to Eoin and his background vocalists for pulling it off! Every song is musically interesting, full of unexpected chord changes, which fit together perfectly. You definitely should hear this album.

SCORE/Excellent: Eoin Shannon’s new album is full of fun songs expertly crafted by Eoin and Tom Savage. I love that the instrumental bed of each song is so musically interesting, loving the arrangements. The background vocals blend seamlessly with Eoin’s strong Celtic voice. If you love musically interesting albums, like I do, I highly recommend this one. Have a listen, you’ll thank me. Much love, Beth

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