Reviews
“SLEEPLESS STREET” – 2 U I Bestow
(11 out of 12)
Second Album from Mullingar’s Peter Doran is an instantly likeable album of mature ballads, wonderful vocals and insightful lyrics.
I saw Peter Doran support Nick Kelly in Whelans well over a year ago and discovered his debut album ‘Wood’ relatively recently. ‘Wood’ is a very ambitious debut full of big sounds. In contrast ‘Sleepless Street’ finds Peter Doran singing delicate beautifully arranged songs accompanied by strings. The mood created by the Cello in particular within the album reminds me a lot of Damien Rice’s ‘O’.
The album kicks off with the big sound of ‘Hunter’s Sketches’ which doesn’t do much for me to be honest. The next three songs however are wonderful. In particular ‘Pathways’ which would be on regular rotation if I were the controller of music for a radio station. It’s a great song with a catchy guitar riff, background cello strings and the vocal melodies any songwriter would be proud of. ‘Pathways’ for me is the main track on the album and worth the price of the album alone!
The next song to grab my attention is the Mic Christopher sounding ‘The Composer’. It has that swagger in the song which can automatically make the body move. It’s a song about the challenge of being a composer of songs and letting them go into the world!
Even when the sound is stripped back to just Peter’s vocals and guitars the results are gripping such as in the song ‘Steeped in You’. I find it very easy to be transported through the stories in each of the songs on ‘Sleepless Street’ due to Peter’s fine vocals. To make an ultimate comparison I think Peter’s vocals are the close to David Gray’s vocals from ‘White Ladder’ era.
‘Sleepless Street’ is a quality album of intelligent songs sung by a singer with a great voice. It has upbeat rock tracks, delicate ballads, piano based tracks, strings, gripping lyrics and even concludes with an epic seven minutes plus swooning ballad which gave the album it’s title. If you’re a fan of people like Make Geary, Tom Baxter, Mic Christopher etc. then this album is right up your street!
Peter Doran – Sleepless Street [11 out of 12]
HOTPRESS REVIEW FOR WOOD
Peter Doran
‘Wood‘
While even some of our better songwriters only shine in introspective acoustic settings, and their guitar playing is often there merely to provide an underbelly for the vocal, Mullingar-Based musician Peter Doran can vary both mood and tempo and is an ace guitar player to boot.
Although opening track “Scenic Route” does not augur well, with his Loudon Wainwright-like voice wobbling unsettlingly in a song that opens like Christy’s “Ride On”, from there on it’s uphill all the way. He’s also well served by his band too, with Johnny Owens on violin adding a plaintive touch to “Loose”. There’s a loose funkiness to the pleading “Mr Giant”, and “Filling Spaces” is a laid-back affair, it’s tasteful guitar playing setting the mood and building towards a slightly anguished conclusion. “Ten Thousand Bees” has a lazy lilting latino sway to it, and “Treasure Chest” has an irresistible rhythm to spur Doran’s vocal is at it’s most appealing. “Wood” also benefits from a moving vocal performance from Doran, with Gerard Toal’s cello adding a hint of forboding. This is an admirable debut that should open doors and minds.
seven/ten
-Jackie Hayden, hotpress
HOTPRESS REVIEW FOR SCENIC ROUTE
Peter Doran
‘Scenic Route‘
Peter Doran’s debut is in tune with traditional singer-songwriter fare. This
however, doesn’t make the Mullingar performer’s work any less impressive.
Delicate and reserved, Doran’s tender voice swells with the sparse, acoustic
driven melody. Owing a great deal to Damien Rice, there’s an impressively
warm and enchanting feel to ‘Scenic Route’. If debut album wood is half as
good we really do have much to look forward to.
-Steve Cummins, hotpress
