MARK MULCAHY
SmileSunset
Mezzotint 1525 (CD). 2001. Mark Mulcahy, prod.;
Adam Lasus, prod., eng. ADD. IT: 51:28 Performance •
Sonics ***
7/5
I Just Shot Myself in the Foot Again
Mezzotint 1324 (CD). 2000. Adam Lasus, prod. ADD.
TT: 12:1O Performance *** Sonics ***

Originally published in Stereophile magazine April, 2001

Let's begin at the end of the remarkable SmileSunset: Mark Mulcahy, the eccentric warbler for beloved late-80's/early-90's New Haven college-pop outfit Miracle Legion, is concluding the album with an acoustic meditation burnished by neo-baroque cello, minimalist glockenspiel, and a harmonica line that's positively Springsteenian in its wistfulness. The bittersweet blend of remembrance, optimism, and mournful resolve ("It'll be alright," Mulcahy offers with a sigh, as if to reassure himself) is nakedly straight-forward in an end-credits sense, and in fact was composed for the Ned Beatty/ Liev Schreiber film Spring Forward. But coming on the heels of 11 other resonant gems, it serves notice that Mulcahy should be welcomed to the ranks of such evocateers as Shawn Colvin, Ron Sexsmith, the late Jeff Buckley, and even, at times, The Boss himself.

Not that Mulcahy's a novice. In addition to Miracle Legion, he fronted the short-lived Polaris, of mid-'90s Nickelodeon TV show The Adventures of Pete and Pete fame, and just last year enjoyed unexpected UK acclaim when his 1997 solo debut, Fathering, saw belated overseas release; alongside the British critics, no less than Radiohead's Thorn Yorke lined up to sing Mulcahy's praises. SmileSunset, then, arrives at a time when "adult" ears grow weary of rap and metal gale force winds. The album is a deliberate venture into the realms of contemplation and quietude — the proverbial "velvet glove" technique of music-making (as opposed to the "led [sic] sledgehammer" approach). And whether essaying a quirky slice of British flavored retro-pop ("Until I Say So," suggests a meeting of Ray Davies and Tom Waits), offering the humblest of confessionals amid a muted, jangly arrangement ("I Just Shot Myself in the Foot Again," a delicate melody that borrows subtly from Rod Stewart's version of "Reason to Believe"), or simply turning, as all good songwriters must on occasion, to the Beatles (the dreamy harmony vocals and surreal vibe of "I Hate to Needy Need You" seem to hark back to side 2 of Abbey Road], Mulcahy proves himself a worthy gatekeeper.

He's self-effacing yet brimming with charisma, and blessed with a tuneful, acrobatic vocal range. SmileSunset is a low-key classic—and a richly nuanced, analog-warm—sounding recording — that, over repeated hearings, makes a subliminal but decisive impact.

The I Just Shot Myself in the Foot Again EP preceded the full length release, and it bears notice. Among a trio of non-album tracks, it includes a cover of Elvis Costello's "Shipbuilding," originally penned by E.G. for British cult icon Robert Wyatt. The tune's enduring quality is profound, and Mulcahy updates the arrangement with cello and clarinet, singing at times in a spidery whisper; once again, the song's anti-war message rings through loud and clear. Mulcahy has submitted a "kinder and gentler" record just as the second Bush dynasty takes over the White House, and the irony is sweet. — Fred Mills

Originally published in Mojo magazine

Delicate songs of compassion and intimacy.

By David Peschek.

Ask Mark Mulcahy if he feels he's been ill-served by the music industry, and he's philosophical. "If you don't sell, they don't have time for you. It's probably worse to work for Pepsi, or a bank — there's no pretence of what your artistic value is, it's all from the cheque book. The music business doesn't make sense because it attempts to combine two things that don't go together."

When copies of Fathering, Mulcahy's self-released solo debut, drifted across the Atlantic in late 1998, it seemed extraordinary that he'd been allowed to fall between the cracks. Live shows underlined his specialness: a supple, elastic voice that could swoop from child-like falsetto to a Tom Waits growl, and simple, compassionate songs of skin-pricking intimacy. The truth, of course, was that he'd escaped, to make music on his own terms.

Mulcahy spent much of the '80s as the singer of Miracle Legion, a fine band with a sizeable following (including a young Thom Yorke and his brother Andy). With R.E.M. and the Paisley Underground bands, they purveyed a gently eccentric take on classic guitar pop in an unfriendly decade. At the turn of the '90s the band signed to Morgan Creek, a movie company who'd made a packet from Robin Hood and expanded into music after the success of its Bryan Adams-powered soundtrack. Which is where the trouble began. "They signed a bunch of bands," Mulcahy remembers. "They ruined everybody - it was like the Titanic. At the time it seemed fine: tons of money, staving in LA, flying around. Everyone made one record and then everything fell apart. They wouldn't let us go, they just locked us in a room. Two years later the lawyers got us out of it. But we were crushed."

Providing the music for a show on the Nickelodeon TV channel, The Adventures Of Pete And Pete - the "suburban, David Lynchian-but-funny, eccentric adventures of two brothers called Pete" — provided, at least artistically, a way out. Mulcahy explains: "It was amazing to do something that didn't require a lot of groveling, with people who liked music. Steve Buscemi was one of the guest stars, [Michael] Stipe was on it once — he played Captain Scrummy, the Ice Cream Man — Iggy Pop was the next door neighbour."

Wrestling free of Morgan Creek, Mulcahy set up his own label, Mezzotint. "I enjoy being able to put out records when I want. The great thing about Rough Trade [Miracle Legion's UK label] was they'd just put records out if you had them. I wish I'd known how great that was at the time." But what Mulcahy really wanted was to return to the UK. "I didn't know how I was going to get back here, and I was pining for it." Andy Yorke — who by now had his own band, The Unbelievable Truth — invited him over, lending Mark his band as back-up. London label Loose were quick to swoon.

"I was a bit worried," Mulcahy recalls. "I'd made a record that had put me in the category of singer/songwriter, by accident. I had no money, and played everything because I didn't know what to tell other people to play." SmileSunset is a more layered work, with contributions from a group of friends, a sweetened nod to Mark's Miracle Legion days. (Criminally, those early records remain largely unavailable.) "When I started playing, my eyes were shut and I was trying to make die world a better place. Eventually, I thought if I could keep something good going, I'd be happy with that. Having an influence on something good, that's an amazing thing."

(OST as 'Polaris', Mezzotint) Solo: 1998 Fathering April 2001 SmileSunset (both Mezzotint/Loose)
STRENGTHS: "I'm very pleased that I'm able to sing the way I think. I feel fortunate, blessed."
REFERENCES: "When I was 15, Surprise Surprise Surprise changed the way I thought about songs and singing. [Mark's was] the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard." Thom Yorke, Radiohead

Originally published in Metro magazine

The former Miracle Legion frontman follows up his debut solo alum, Fathering, with 12 pretty nearly perfect songs on a CD unlikely to earn him much in the way of beans or recognition in this cruel, cruel world. Still, it's the world's loss, not least because Mark Mulcahy's truly extraordinary voice — sharing the same full-blooded emotive quality as Mark Eitzel's — infuses these subtly crafted, jauntily off-kilter, mostly self-played songs with a spirit simultaneously life-affirming and ever so slightly heart-tearing. "The loping Until I Say So has a seedy Eastern European cabaret feet about it, the sprightly The Come On has sound effects courtesy of what appears to be a baked bean tin, Resolution strikes a yearning note that is simply lovely, damn it — they are all terrific. CA

Originally published in Into The Light? magazine

THE EVENING STAR
MARK MULCAHY
SMILE SUNSET
Loose * * * *
Friendlier, lusher sound from Thom Yorke's
favourite singer-songwriter

Once the singer with Miracle Legion, a band touted as rivals to R.E.M. until they fell apart amid legal wrangling after a major label deal went sour, Mark Mulcahy struck out under his own banner three years ago with his debut solo album, Fathering, A stark, intimate record, it was a tense and at times even disquieting listening experience which set the singer's soaring and swooping multi-octave voice against little more than his own electric guitar accompaniment on a set of searingly confessional songs.

Now comes the follow-up Smile Sunset and it's a more expansive affair lusher, bolder and altogether more textured with the guitar and voice augmented by rolling drums, glockenspiels, mandolins, mournful cellos, backing vocals and even a clarinet. But is bigger better? Well, let's just say it's different. Some will miss the relentless intensity and rawness of Fathering and Mulcahy's vocals are less acrobatic - he seems to have taken a conscious decision to limit his range and stay in the plains rather than to climb the mountains and dive the oceans.

Yet the often warm atmospherics can. be deceptive SmileSunset undoubtedly finds him stepping out of the darkness and into the light. But listen closely ana underneath the verdant sound he is still working the same emotional mine. Perhaps he is digging less deeply and the desperation has gone but self-doubt, bad love and the search for redemption are still all there.

The fragmentary opener "Micon The Icon" is as stripped down as it gets with Mulcahy weeping that he "needs a shoulder to cry on" over a gorgeous cello part. The old tender vulnerability is evident, too, on "I Just Shot My Self In The Foot", "The Way That She Is" and the lovely "Resolution #1". But "Alamo In Alabama" has a jazzy Tom Waits feel and "Until I Say So" sounds like a Kurt Weill song. His falsetto voice on "Quiet One" possesses a gossamer fragility until he dramatically changes the mood by demanding "What kind of drugs have you done tonight?" "We're Not In Charleston Anymore" and "I Hate To Needy Need You."

Underneath the verdant sound he is still working the same emotional mine'
Needy Need You" have a rocking back-beat before it's back to the simple guitar, harmonica and cello of the reflective closer "A Cup Of Tea And Your insights". At times "Fathering" lonely nakedness, claustrophobia and highly-strung psychodrama verged on the intimidating. The songs on Smile Sunset are lighter and airier, making it a more friendly affair Embrace it. And then hope that next time he makes another album like Fathering.

Nigel Williamson

Originally published in CMJ

After Drenched, Miracle Legion's major-label trainwreck. singer Mark Mulcahy laid low for most of the '90s, scoring Nickelodeon's much-missed The Adventures Of Pete & Pete and gigging around Connecticut with the Butterflies Of Love. In 1999, he resurfaced with the stark Fathering, a one-man-and-his-overdubs affair that garnered considerable attention in the U.K., including opening slots for Oasis. This solid follow-up employs a tasteful backing band (and the occasional cello) to highlight a dozen songs that draw liberally on soul and jazz rhythms. With its constant vibrato and loose, almost scatted phrasing, Mulcahy's distinctive voice remains his calling card. ("The One Behind" reveals a surprising but unmistakable resemblance to Schoolhouse Rocker Bob Dorough.) A few songs depend on their delivery, but the best could be sung by anyone, with the subtle but genuinely melodic "Resolution #1" and "I Just Shot Myself In The Foot Again" being standouts. Mulcahy's old band wrote of backyards and birdbaths in the approved early-R.E.M. mode, but on his own, he's become a lyricist of a more personal bent, by turns possessive ("I want to tie you up"), narcissistic ("I like you... when you're quiet") and sentimental ("Do you still want to have a baby?"). In other words, he's a singer/songwriter—and a good one.

Franklin Bruno

Originally published in fmsound.net

08/22/01

Smile Sunset the second album from the former lead singer of Miracle Legion, proves more mature and diverse than Mulcahy's first release, Fathering. Listening to Smile Sunset is like taking a rambling journey through the nether regions of America. Mulcahy shows off his strong songwriting skills with a mixture of folk blues, country, and pop. His voice proves to be a worthy asset as does his ability to play an eclectic bunch of instruments.

Gently twisted ballads, such as The Quiet One and The Way She Really Is, give the album a degree of tenderness. Alamo in Alabama and Until I Say So stumble into blues territory, while Wake Up Whispering drifts along quietly like a country lullaby. 

The ghosts of Elvis, Jeff Buckley, and Muddy Waters all seem to make appearances on Smile Sunset as Mulcahy's voice explores a fantastic array of sounds. Mulcahy may come from Massachusetts, but his muse lies in the mystery, ritual, and romance of the South. 

The final track, A Cup of Tea and Your Insights, begins with the sound of a music box echoing a mournful tale. Then the sweet sound of a harmonica takes over until Mulcahy's road-weary voice slides into the mixture. The lyrics are drenched in pain and tinged with regret, but Mulcahy's voice takes on a soothing tone. He sings, "She's so hard on me/ She's hard, like I know someday I will be... I know that I'd be all right/ With a cup of tea and your insights." 

The album seems to end with the haunting pleasure of A Cup of Tea... but, Mulcahy, like a benevolent father, bestows the gift of a hidden track. His acoustic version of Harry Nillson's Moonbeam Song serves a reminder of the past and a glimpse into the future, as Smile Sunset closes on the image of the moon's bright light.

Destiny Lilly is a freelance journalist and artist living in London.

Originally published in reviewed4u.com

Having not heard of Mark Mulcahy, until very recently, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found. It's probably not my first choice of music to listen to, but because it's done so well it grows on you very quickly and merits continuous playing.

Listening to this album is like taking a long hot bath....very relaxing. I suppose if I was to try classify the music, I'd say it's got a modern indie feel like artists such as David Gray, but also a very mature traditional American folk rock feel like artists such as Bob Dylan. It's a hybrid of styles from pop through folk and blues, even including elements of jazz, creating a unique and appealing sound.

Top tracks include 'Quiet one' which sounds a bit like the Rolling Stones and the reflecting and delicate "I Shot Myself in the Foot". Mark's voice is smooth and excellent as it flows, twists and dives through each song.
The album is easy to listen to and pretty good from beginning to end and overall a mature piece of work of the highest quality.

Editor - R4U

Originally published in Seattle Weekly

July 18, 2001

(Mezzotint)
MARK MULCAHY
SmileSunset
A beatific collection of lightly frazzled jangle-gems from former Miracle Legion head honcho.

Is there a renaissance going on that I don't know about? Suddenly, we've got all these singers dropping names like Tim Buckley and Harry Nilsson in their bio pages, and before you can say, "Me and My Arrow," my mailbox is stuffed with honey-sweet sounds (Ron Sexsmith, Joseph Arthur, David Mead) that threaten to smelt all my gnarly cynicism into delirious taffy. Ex-Miracle Legion totem Mark Mulcahy pours out the heart-worn Butterworth on, revealing a confidence and angular depth to his voice that I hadn't been previously aware of. His fluttery whisper on "The Way That She Really Is" sounds nothing short of devastating in its naked revelation. Then along comes "Until I Say So," in which he sports a laugh-clown-laugh cabaret delivery that, despite its flamboyant dressing, is no less honest. Frankly, this is more like it. I'm quite enjoying the tiny, determined wave of performers who can actually sing and begin to utilize the many Swiss Army functions of their glorious voices. Then again, guys like Richard Davies and Jason Falkner are still out there somewhere, looking for any port in the storm. Godspeed, lads.

John Chandler

Mark Mulcahy
SmileSunset
(Mezzotint)
US release date: 2 April 2001
by Dave Heaton
PopMatters Music Critic

Writing about music is a fool's game — it's hard to admit, but the aspects of music that cause it to affect us so much are essentially indescribable. Why the best music hits us so hard can't be pinned down through genre names, adjectives or hyperbole, no matter how many of them you're armed with or how comfortable you are with dispensing them.
In the simplest terms, Mark Mulcahy is a singer/songwriter of the rock/pop variety. He spent some years playing in a great, melodic rock band called Miracle Legion, spent some more with the sunnier rock outfit Polaris, and has now released two solo albums which are too soulful and jazzy to be called rock, and which fall into that vague category known as singer-songwriter music (which means "here's a person playing guitar, singing some songs and we don't know what else to say"). He has a truly distinctive singing voice, which used to be compared to Michael Stipe's and is lately often compared to either Tim Buckley's, Jeff Buckley's, or both, yet he doesn't sound too much like any of them. His last solo album was called Fathering, his new one is SmileSunset, and both are released on his own independent label, Mezzontint.

These facts are good to know, but they tell you nothing about why his songs are so beautiful, or why they'll follow you through your days, begging you to listen one more time. Yet I suppose they're as good a place to start as any.

Mark Mulcahy's voice has the resonance and expressiveness of the best jazz singers. You'll find him whispering one second, growling the next, and all with an inherent sensitivity, passion and friendliness that's hard to match. Throughout SmileSunset, he switches his vocal style mid-song, or mid-line even, and in doing so amplifies each song's emotional impact tenfold. One choice example is the way he glides from a low key, confessional introduction into an impassioned plea for help on "The One Behind", by taking his voice up an octave or so and singing less reservedly. Another is how the weird opening section of "Quiet One", where a falsetto-ed Mulcahy sings about wanting to tie someone up, gives the bulk of the song, basically a love letter, an unsettling air.

Mulcahy's various singing voices echo the fact that his songs depict all sorts of people's interior dialogues: their thoughts, longings, feelings, desires, mostly directed to others, real or imagined. Each song sounds like the voice of someone obsessed — with a celebrity, a lover, an ex-lover, a stranger, an idea, etc. He is brilliant at conveying the sense that these are someone's innermost thoughts and feelings, while retaining a sense of obliqueness and mystery; the lyrics aren't diary entries or soliloquies, but poetic, evocative portraits of the inner workings of human brains and hearts. Which makes it apropos that the beauty of Mulcahy's music is intangible and hard to trap, since his songs are all about personal emotions and thoughts, things that aren't ever linear or easily explained.

Mark Mulcahy's SmileSunset is a collection of songs from a blessedly idiosyncratic songwriter, one who isn't aiming for a demographic or trying to sell you his personality, but who writes some songs and lets them be what they are. His songs sound like no one else's, and have that unmappable, un teachable capacity to shoot straight through your heart that makes the best music what it is.

Mark Mulcahy
Smilesunset (Mezzotint)
By: Alex Steininger

Radiohead's Tom Yorke sites Mark Mulcahy as one of his main influences. One listen to Smilesunset and there is no doubt that Yorke has drawn many similarities to Mulcahy. A beautiful songs crafted around subtle melodies and sweet, breezy hooks, Mulcahy's sincere, bright pop songs are relaxed and timid enough to make you want to fall asleep to them every night, but lyrically deep enough to make you want to sit down, with no distractions, absorbing all you can.

This is a brilliant, sophisticated pop record able to stand on its own without Yorke's recommendation. Superior to the majority of pop bands today, Mulcahy proves to be a talent to keep an eye on. I'll give this an A+.

Originally published in closedeyepatterns.com

Mark Mulcahy
SmileSunset
(Mezzotint)
review by Erin Hucke

Mark Mulcahy is a hard character to pin down. There is something about his music that resists categorization. It's not so easy to understand what it is about his songs that is so attractive. But it's not so difficult to love them instantly.
Mulcahy is silly, but not slapstick or completely absurd. His songs are sweet without getting too sappy. He experiments with unusual instrumentation without creating outlandish, alien results. His melodies are delicate and careful, but accelerate at just the right moments with powerful vocals or rocking guitars. All of this combines to create a mighty attractive, mass-appealing product. The music is a little funny, a little arty, a little rockin', a little weird, a little lovey-dovey... it's a wonder his records aren't discussed at the dinner table in every American home.
If the name Mark Mulcahy sounds familiar, it might be because he was once the front man of Miracle Legion, an '80s rock band on the cusp of fame, hailed as "the next R.E.M.," they never quite caught on. While his solo work isn't miles away from the style of Miracle Legion, it is at least a few giant steps ahead of it, using atypical instruments and gentle song structures.

On top of that, Mulcahy has an instantly recognizable voice. It's unmistakable, even when you aren't expecting to hear it. "A Cup of Tea and Your Insights," a dainty, minimal melody on SmileSunset, ran over the credits of the 1999 independent film Spring Forward. Sitting in the darkened theatre, I was both surprised and truly thrilled that I knew I was hearing a new Mark Mulcahy song without really knowing. (By the way, Spring Forward is a fantastic film, telling the story of two pretty unalike guys coming to the realization over time that they really aren't so different after all.)

But back to Mark, it really is puzzling that even the American indie music press hardly takes notice of him when his music is so unconventionally loveable. It leaves me wondering if Mark Mulcahy will ever get the praise he deserves. SmileSunset is a damn good album and 1997's Fathering is in my permanent rotation. (I'm not even going to get myself started raving on about Miracle Legion or The Adventures of Pete and Pete band, Polaris.) All of Mulcahy's efforts are incredible, and SmileSunset is a brilliant addition.