It is ironic that at such a personally-challenged, low-tide for faith point in life that I released a collection of counter-cultural spiritual songs. I feel far-from-uplifted these days and like everyone else hard-pressed on a number of life’s battle fronts. But we are doing the best we can. And that is good enough for now and maybe always.
I have written many songs in many contrary genre over years, football anthems, comedy dance hits, rockers, talkin blues, jazz and even a country ballad sometimes. Most of them that no one has ever really heard except the dog and the missus and some open mic regulars. I recorded some of the chosen few of these with real drummers, choirs and strings etc, and some of them exist only as a live instant in time live tracks or as bedroom or low scale demos. But they all have or had something I wanted to express. Thus it was as part of Covid lock-down time I undertook to look through my recorded archive and put out some of these underachieving treasures. These Precious Blood album songs are part of some theme I felt could walk and talk together.
Releasing art into the world is termed ‘shipping it’ in ‘War of Art’ style resistance circles. I should have huge resistance to release this stuff but I don’t worry over these things as much anymore. What I mean is I do care of course but I don’t have control over whether I will get critiqued, so do it anyway. That is the nature of the artistic beast. Make the Art and send it off. I could be better at spreading the word I suppose, but maybe you reader will help that process.
In the Time of Covid is a time where life and death has been very close by us. Perhaps I am part of some universal message app and I or we do need to look to the nearly abandoned spiritual comforts of our forebears to ease the displacement we are feeling in the previously unchallenged but now creaky and nonsupporting cultural shibboleths. I feel Capitalism’s UberTech Bros are eating-my-lunch (my created music & writers Intellectual Property) right in front of me, and asking me to cookie-consent to my dis-empowerment and data surveillance in so many ways with dark-patterned digital manipulations.
So this music package is in someway a sort of barmy yet sincere Mothers Day tribute and a thank you. I found the lyrics for my track ‘Previous Blood’ on a piece of paper handwritten down by my mother from my CD. So I do have something saved from her that was really very significant. Her handwriting of my lyrics.
The project itself is that personal thing but more too. A gathering up of the lost and found music tracks like ‘Treasure’; a song which set me out on this road of songwriting – I won my first songwriting award for in Dublin way back in the smokey bar filled past.
‘I may be able to speak’ got me into music college in the adjoing building to where it was recorded in MCR, UK and as one of my first songs to be picked up for release on an independent UK record collective. ‘Happy Christmas’ and ‘Angels Tears’ illustrate a time playing with Genna Johnson and our band in New York – we were called LaughJohnLaugh. ‘Our Father’, ‘Peace’ were both recorded down the street from where I live in Brooklyn. So it is a historical & geographical record and I am glad to be be releasing it. Who may hear it among the busy overwhelm of Spotify is yet to be told, but I hope you get to enjoy it on the twelfth of May 2021 when it is and was released onto most digital music outlets.
Track List: Precious Blood 2021
Precious Blood 2021
1 Precious Blood II
2 Our Father
3 Peace
4 Angels Tears ii
5 I may be able to speak
6 Precious Blood I
7 Treasure
Bonus Live:
8 Happy Christmas Live at FTCC feat/ Genna Johnson & Silent Note
All Songs Ⓟ & © 2021 John Munnelly (ASCAP)
