Paula O'Reilly - 4 Walls & My Guitar (2024) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. 18 Months
02. My Piano
03. Roller Coaster
04. Let's Dance
05. Hope Springs Eternal
06. One More Drink
07. No Questions
08. Songs I'll Never Sing
09. Emergency Call
10. Speechless
11. Back to You

Having followed Paula O'Reilly for some years through a collection of excellent singles, #TEAMw21 mistakenly thought we had the measure of what Paula's forthcoming album might sound like. Just how wrong we were as "4 Walls & My Guitar" not only met our expectations but blew them out of the park. Most albums that have already yielded 5 singles might seek to front load the album and then subsequently tail off the quality - but not Paula - having written 5 singles she has more or less just written 6 more to turn the record into something truly special. There is a motivation behind this second spurt of writing which makes itself immediately apparent - so don't go expecting a collection that holds things back, - from the opening track the absolutely explosive "18 Months". Paula is at her most combative, and as it turns out most creative.

This album has proved trickier than most to review because it is very hard to concentrate and get past "18 Months" without feeling the urge to go back and listen to it again. It opens tho a big band introduction of drums, guitars including pedal steel and a sumptuous "Positively 4th Street" organ sound. As they gradually fade back Paula fills the void with a visceral opening verse, delivered with the sort of anger that the words suggest

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