Barry Walsh – Rescue Me (2024)
With their flair for dramatics, energetic exuberance, and all-around fascinating music, 80s power-pop band The Fireflys captured hearts with sophisticated elegance. Burning bright with a charming glow, the Irish foursome released critically acclaimed singles while ensnaring hearts with their confident performances. It was a short burn of bright light with The Fireflys fading into non-existence, however, the players continued to tally forth.
Over the past two decades, lead vocalist Barry Walsh has been involved in numerous musical delights reaching his current role as Head of Operations at the National Concert Hall in Dublin. His life may have taken a different turn, but his head is filled with jumbled melodies ready to be free at the drop of a chord. Tumbling out from a masterful musical brain to a recording studio, the guitars, keyboards and doodles harmonical interwoven give us Walsh’s debut single ‘Rescue Me’.
Self-produced and recorded in his son’s home studio in Trim, ‘Rescue Me’ is “a breezy scorcher of a song…” A nostalgic drag to the days of The Beatles, The Beach Boys and The Byrds, Walsh sits comfortably in power-pop sounds of yesteryear; a similarity I find amusing as the single was mastered by Grammy Award winner Sean Magee in Abbey Road Studios. A combination of soaring guitars, bold bass, trippy keyboard and dynamic drums, ‘Rescue Me’ is a sophisticated wrapper of sound. The thing is, while maturity oozes from the arrangement, each chord winks with playful Irish charm in bubble gum pop swirls.
The melody is light-hearted, laidback and a testament to joyful giggles in summer days, but it also presents vulnerability amidst the gay laughs. Breezing falsettos with the smooth “la la la” set up an infectious tone; then the speedy dash to a finish gives a heart-racing, rushed, “head in a swirl and lost in space” sensation. Confused and tripped up, the brash halt at the end is truly a fitting conclusion.
In addition to the single, Barry Walsh released an official lyric video for ‘Rescue Me’. You can view the video below and on his YouTube channel. Please note that this video uses effects that can trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy. Viewer discretion is advised.
VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED
Find out more about Barry Walsh on his X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
Listen to more indie-pop tunes on The Other Side Reviews Indie Pop playlist:
