Those Sweet Reviews

A wave of beautiful harmonies gradually build and introduces us perfectly to this fine example of musicianship and a song of pure beauty from the exemplary artist Mostly Blue. “Middle Of The Night” is yet another reflection of exactly what makes our indie community so special-brimful of musical talents which are diverse and cover a vast range of styles…while Mostly Blue as an indie artist and Denis as a human being carries with him all the traits-encouraging of others within our scene, supportive, kindhearted while also being incredibly talented and a gifted storyteller- these traits are those which help make us all proud to belong to our indie music community, and our earth as well. Whilst the themes of some of Mostly Blue’s songs and stories can contain sorrow, there are also songs which show great strength, happiness, love, loss, anger, and all those thematic elements which makes the experience of being human-the experience particularly here of Mostly Blue’s existence is quite compelling and unique. That’s the essence and beauty of it all-we all have a unique and compelling story which deserves to be heard-through the artistic medium of music, literature or art itself we can tell our story which may be meaningful and quite profoundly moving and relevant to another. That is the wondrous qualities that music and art can convey. Here in the “Middle Of The Night” we’re thinking of love-love found, love lost-love as an emotion that can keep you awake at night. Two sides of a coin-you cannot have a one sided coin…love can be beautiful and healing, love can be painful and sorrowful. This is another work of fine storytelling, and an epically beautiful and powerful song from Mostly Blue’s which has definitely become one of my favourites from his lengthy catalogue. Special mention must be made of those sometimes mournful sometimes longing always expressive harmonica answering melodic lines. And that is the mark of a remarkable group of musicians here and indie artists such as Mostly Blue and those he has supporting him and the stories told in each of his songs. Something we can all gain inspiration from and something we are all capable of as human beings. If you are human-you can express emotion…you can tell your life story and -as long as there is no harming of another human being or life-your life, your story truly deserves to be heard. That’s exactly what I’ve learned and gained through listening to Mostly Blue’s music.

On first listen to this track there’s the immediate impact of the wondrous sound of what I perceive as a joyful and celebratory listen through Denis’ musical heritage, you can feel that heart getting warmer and instantly feel like singing along as we’re taken through Paul Simon/ Simon and Garfunkel territory with expertly written lyrical references all the way through-Beginning with the title, we’re off on a unique voyage as Denis’ lyrical nods to the music of Paul Simon that have graced his life-you can envision the Steve Gadd four drumstick laden grooves mentioned lyrically by title of the song where this groove is featured (“Late in the Evening”) through to the insincere giraffes, honest monkeys and all the traits of the animals that reside at Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Zoo”, Denis also takes us to an island along the way where “I am a Rock”(“and a rock feels no pain, and an island never cries”), “Cecilia” is there too. As well as all these lyrical references to Paul Simon’s rich catalog (Paul Simon’s lyrics are quite erudite-there’s a lot of poetry to his guitar work too-you can certainly hear similar gifts on display through Denis’ catalog too-Like Paul Simon-Mostly Blue has immense talent) Sonically, this song is a veritable feast-The sounds of zydeco music wafts through from New Orleans, along with quite tasty guitar work all the way throughout-there’s fabulous backing harmonies on this as well-the timbres of both lead and harmony vocals suit perfectly-there’s a few close harmony moments very reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel-this track is upbeat, a feel good and a wonderful ride throughout Mostly Blue’s quite charming ode to a great musical influence in Paul Simon who has provided the soundtrack to many and given most a reason to smile. You can hear in this song through Mostly Blue’s clear and prescient voice that Paul Simon has been there for him, providing the solace and comfort that music has always brought us all. This one fantastic reminder of the power of music. I’d highly recommend listening through Denis’ whole oeuvre-within you’ll find a musician and artist with a gift of storytelling that will certainly move and inspire you. As part of this magnificent indie community, listening to Mostly Blue is guaranteed to make you feel proud and very much inspired to be involved in this scene-as stated at the beginning-each of us has a fascinating story to tell and a gift to tell it through the medium of music and sound. As indie artists, we all have the means and capacity to tell our story. Every individual within our fabulous indie music community has a story that is a valid, compelling and a meaningful one to tell. Your story is certainly much appreciated and valued. Listening to Mostly Blue is a great reminder and inspiration to all of us that our gifts to create music and tell our stories is something to be very thankful for. Myles💜🙏❤️ Myles O’Flaherty Music