The Possum in the Driveway
Acclaimed singer-songwriter Mark Mulcahy continues his support of independent record shops with the announcement that his brand-new LP, The Possum in the Driveway, will be available on limited-edition gold vinyl on April 22nd as part of Record Store Day 2017. If fans aren’t lucky enough to snag a copy on Record Store Day, Mezzotint will be issuing a general release the following week on Friday April 28th. Possum marks Mulcahy’s fifth solo album and first since his celebrated 2013 return record, Dear Mark J Mulcahy I Love You. Long heralded by contemporary luminaries like Radiohead’s Thom Yorke and fellow songwriter Ryan Adams, Mulcahy makes bold new strides on Possum both as a songwriter and performer. His trademark jangly guitars drop out in favor of lush orchestrations that moodily underpin his dynamic deliveries without ever feeling forced or over-produced. Unshackled from his normal styles, Mulcahy’s voice embraces a wider emotional range than ever before: plaintive and tender (“Stuck on Something Else”), crackling and soulful (“The Fiddler”), and seductive and menacing (“I Am the Number 13”) all in the span of a few tracks. Possum is that rare record that ventures out in many different directions but always manages to find its way back home by song’s end. “This record took years off my life to make,” Mulcahy says of Possum. “The war is over. I won.” The battles included a recording studio burning down, having to shelve the project for a number of years, and maintaining a vision as he and collaborators Ken Maiuri (Pedro the Lion, B-52s), John Panos (Augustines, Mates of State), and album producer Scott Amore (Butterflies of Love, Quiet Life) drifted from studio to studio before finally wrapping at J Mascis’ Bisquiteen studio. In the end, though, Mulcahy counts the struggle among his proudest accomplishments. “I’m in love with the art of making albums,” he explains, “especially vinyl ones.”
The former Miracle Legion and Polaris man, beloved of The National, Thom Yorke and Michael Stipe, disappoints with his latest solo album.
It's a testament to Mulcahy's perseverance, or resilience, that these 11 new songs sound so effortless.
The Miracle Legion man's latest solo album, The Possum in the Driveway, doesn’t quite deliver on all fronts.
The Miracle Legion frontman's latest solo effort consistently surprises. Review by Barney Harsent