Having lived in London from 1982, you might presume that songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Damian O\u2019Neill would have had his Derry accent smoothed out, but that isn\u2019t the case. He might talk slower in London than he does when he\u2019s back home, he admits, but there are no other allowances. \u201cYou can\u2019t lose your accent, you just can\u2019t,\u201d he says with an air of finality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You might be aware of O\u2019Neill as the lead guitarist of the Undertones and co-writer of several of that band\u2019s classic pop\/punk songs, including True Confessions<\/em>, My Perfect Cousin<\/em>, and It\u2019s Going to Happen<\/em> (he was also a pivotal member of the much-loved 1990s guitar band That Petrol Emotion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n You might presume, therefore, that when O\u2019Neill writes songs, they will forever include crunchy guitar riffs and infectious melodic hooks, but that certainly isn\u2019t so with his latest album, An Crann<\/em>. The title is a dead giveaway for where the songwriter\u2019s head is at these days: it is Irish for \u201cThe Tree\u201d, which for many centuries across legends, religion and culture, has symbolised wisdom, growth and life. \u201cI\u2019m in a really happy place, personally,\u201d he says, \u201cand that level of contentment is expressed very well on the album.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n O\u2019Neill\u2019s musical dexterity throughout the album (he plays electric and acoustic guitars, mandolin, bass, organ, vibraphone, toy marimba, glockenspiel, melodica, mouth organ, squeezebox, kalimba, bells and various percussion) means that virtually every mood is sensed and heard. While memories and thoughts are being evoked, he adds that, for various reasons, he also wanted to express his Irishness more than he had ever done before. \u201cI wanted to be honest with myself, too, and while the album is quite mellow, I can get quite angry about certain things.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Such as? O\u2019Neill\u2019s naturally gentle voice raises a notch or two. \u201cOh, Brexit still makes me so angry, and the fact that it\u2019s affecting the peace process in the North. We had a perfectly great Good Friday Agreement, from which everybody breathed a sigh of relief. <\/strong>I know there is always trouble of some sort between the political parties, but people started to get on with life, a new generation was growing up that didn\u2019t experience what people of my generation did. Brexit just ramped up tensions again, and the people who voted for it weren\u2019t thinking about Ireland, as usual. Lives of people are now at risk, and that, as you might imagine, got me so annoyed, and maybe made me feel even more Irish and prouder to be Irish.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n