Michael J Sheehy – Distance Is The Soul Of Beauty

Lightning Archive

Michael J Sheehy‘s first solo album in ten years is one of spectral, slow beauty; the creeping, acoustic melancholy hiding a new found zest for life that seems to put much distance between it and the more desperate and depraved output of Dream City Film Club and to a lesser extent Miraculous Mule.

Here, buoyed by the recent birth of a child and the opportunity for introspection that has come to many artists over the Covid period, he has fashioned ten tender and life-affirming vignettes that waft cotton wool-like from the speakers. The image is of him crafting in a corner of the house somewhere as his child sleeps, the volume purposefully turned down, allowing the simplicity of the acoustic bearing to accompany his thoughtful and positive poetry.

There is little to accompany the acoustic guitar that features most prominently on Distance Is The Soul Of Beauty, but it is not just a series of identical ballads. There are changes of tempo and subtle uses of other textures that allow his voice, a halting croon, to spread softly through the room. It is reaching with a touch of heartbreak that brings to mind that of Alex Gordon, singer of fellow London underachievers Lincoln. His slow and stately delivery gives that everything is being seen with fresh eyes and that all is wonder: “Tread gently, leave no scar, as you move across the land”. That sense of gentleness and of care pervades the whole album.

Distance Is The Soul Of Beauty is soporific and dreamlike in places, but it is not all a stripped-down lullaby-fest. There is a fine percussive beat to “Bless Your Gentle Soul” and some sort of bells accompany the slow cadence of his delivery in “Judas Hour”. I suppose you could describe some of the sound as Americana; the reverby guitars that appear throughout still hold their tongues and give off a sheen that is pastel-like in its lightness.

“We laugh more than we cry, more often than not” is the most descriptive line. Life is pretty good for Michael, but there is still room for improvement because of the uncertain times and the strange situation of his chosen profession. Rather than howl with anguish, he highlights the good things and you really feel that these have been written in some way as lullabies for his young child. You can almost see him leaning over the bed and imparting these pearls of wisdom.

As the album draws to a conclusion, there is a burst of electric guitar on “‘Judas Hour”. This is the first hint of amplification in the whole album and we are at track number eight. It is quite a shocking moment, but only because up to this point, the album has been so gentle. The tippy-tap beat of final track “Everything That Rises Must Converge” is insistent, but only enhances the gauzey atmosphere. Then the album is over, and you are left with a slight fluttering in the heart that feels as though you have been holding your breath the whole way through.

Distance Is The Soul Of Beauty is a delightful, thoughtful and beautifully recorded set of tracks that hints at a whole new direction for Michael; but on the other hand maybe this just accomplishes a particular yearning, and either way it is something worth sharing with him.

-Mr Olivetti-