Music
Press
O’Caoimh launched into a sharp and acerbic performance interrupted by witty and self-deprecating banter. He gave his songs even more depth and personality through careful and impressive volume control with his voice and guitar. One moment he’d be strumming wildly and barking out a chorus, only to drop
to a whisper, with his fingers barely grazing the strings. He’s a very expressive and engaging performer, not to mention pretty damn funny. Cormac O’Caomih has been playing for years and he knows his shit. He’s a great songwriter and a seasoned performer. I hope he makes it back over from Ireland again soon - Chart Attack, Canada (Festival review)
'The Citadels' were a terrific band from Cork(Ireland) ; sadly they are no more.
Luckily, we have this new solo album from the Citadels front man. Admirers of Prefab Sprout , Roddy Frame, or Damien Rice will likely devour this record. Cormac's lyrics are whip-smart,and his easy-going vocal style grabs the attention. From the punchy title track,all the way to the wonderful closing duet ('If You Feel') this record is a cut above,and deserves to be widely heard. - The Big Take Over Magazine
Luminous front man Cormac O Caoimh releases his first solo album. More than your typical singer-songwriter, O Caoimh mixes pop sensibility with finely tuned song writing wrapping it all up in his soft melodic confidence and sharp lyrical commentary
Hot Press 09/08/2007 - Hot Press 09/08/3007
“Start a Spark,” from Cormac o Caoimh, is an album from the ex-singer/songwriter of The Citadels. This solo performer brings a bevy of musical talent to the table with his varied vocal timbres and rhythms; listeners will be dazzled by this album from start to finish
CelebrityCafe
- Celebrity Cafe
Irish troubadour Cormac O Caoimh has been at the music thing for quite some time with the The Citadels. In 2006 the band played their last gig on Feb 12. This opened up a world of opportunity for Cormac. Start A Spark is the fruit of his labor and quite an impressive work as well. The music has feet in both the pop territory as well as the roots side of things. This album starts out with the title track, a catchy song with quite the mouthful for a chorus. He brings it down slightly with the bouncy "Lazy Gazing". When the Josh Rouse-like "Ghosts" comes around I am impressed even more. This is my favorite song on the Start A Spark set. "Running From The Raincloud" has a very unique feel to it. I do love Cormac's vocals. "Things Will Get" a little bouncier on this fun song.
If you aren't sold by now, check out the closing track, "If You Feel". It's a lovely summer track that has a little Latin feel to it, almost like Cormac has a little Brazil in him.
Unfortunately he will probably end up with tons of Damien Rice comparisons. That would be lazy. Cormac is a lot more upbeat with much more pop incorporated with Rice being a lot more in the AOR landscape. There is no reason why Cormac shouldn't be the next big export from Ireland. - Music Emissions
"There is a lot of good stuff coming out of Ireland at the moment, people like Damien Rice and David Kitt and I got cd recently of The Citadels from Cork which I really like." - Ron Sexsmith
- Belfast Telegraph
"Some great music coming out of Ireland at the moment with Damien Rice and Damien Dempseyvand now this assured debut from THE CITADELS, where the fresh confident songwriting of frontman Cormac O Caoimh suggests a promising future for the band." - Tom Robinson BBC
- BBC Radio
"The lyrics are clever and powerful, demanding attention.The tunes are poppy and catchy. The performance and arrangements are nigh on flawless.Both the writing and the execution are exemplary"
Musician.ie - Musician.ie
"a return to those so-called old fashioned times of finely crafted tunes via folk-tinged pop"
Leonard's Lair - leonardslair.co.uk
"Introspective without being insular, smart without being prim. Too fresh and refreshing to be mere copyist" the music re-enlists "the literate early-to-mid ‘80s breezy pop heartache of Aztec Camera, Prefab Sprout and The Go Betweens."
Whisperin & Hollerin - www.whisperinandhollerin.co.uk
Discography
August 2007 Start a Spark (debut album)
August 2007 Lazy Gazing (single)
2006: lovelight EP *
2004: Letting go holding on *
1999: Shadow of my northern star *
* with THe Citadels
Photos
Bio
Biography
Cormac played three successful showcase gigs at the the London Calling Festival (July 2006). He has supported Damien Rice (in the Paradiso, Amsterdam), Josh Rouse, Declan O Rourke, Mundy, Emmett Tinley, Mark Geary, Nick Kelly, Miles Hunt and Damien Dempsey to name but a few. He was previously singer-songwriter with The Citadels, who list Ron Sexsmith and Tom Robinson (BBC) among their admirers.
2007 proved to be so far his busiest year to date. He was invited to perform at the Canadian Music Festival in Toronto in March, and received a glowing review from Chart Attack (visit: http://www.cormaco.net for the full review). In August Cormac released his debut album "Start a spark" and embarked on a nationwide tour of Ireland in August and dates in the UK and Amsterdam in September.
There is a lot of good stuff coming out of Ireland at the moment, people like Damien Rice and David Kitt and I got cd recently of The Citadels from Cork which I really like.
Ron Sexsmith
the fresh confident songwriting of Cormac O Caoimh suggests a promising future
Tom Robinson, BBC
Charming music.. Indie folk from the days of real Indie such as The Wonder Stuff and Dinosaur Jr.. Makes me smile and rather giddy.
Lior Shamir - Managing Director - We are Listening
It’s difficult to pick a favourite track because the entire
collection of uplifting, danceable songs and their clever,
poetic lyrics are so damn good.
Partyinlingston.com
O’Caoimh launched into a sharp and acerbic performance interrupted by witty and self-deprecating banter. He gave his songs even more depth and personality through careful and impressive volume control with his voice and guitar. One moment he’d be strumming wildly and barking out a chorus, only to drop to a whisper, with his fingers barely grazing the strings. He’s a very expressive and engaging performer, not to mention pretty damn funny. Cormac O’Caomih has been playing for years and he knows his shit. He’s a great songwriter and a seasoned performer. I hope he makes it back over from Ireland again soon.
Canadian Music Festival Report
Introspective without being insular, smart without being prim. Too fresh and refreshing to be mere copyist" the music re-enlists"the literate early-to-mid ‘80s breezy pop heartache of Aztec Camera, Prefab Sprout and The Go Betweens.
Whisperin & Hollerin
The lyrics are clever and powerful, demanding attention.The tunes are poppy and catchy. The performance and arrangements are nigh on flawless.Both the writing and the execution are exemplary
Musician.ie
a return to those so-called old fashioned times of finely crafted tunes via folk-tinged pop
Leonard's Lair
an "immaculate album"
Dave Wibberley Jive Records
Well worth checking out. I've been listening to this all day.
Lovely stuff.
Dan Hegarty, 2fm
Talk about blessed relief, hallelujah and praise be all in one merciful musical package.
www.whisperinandhollerin.co.uk
Some great music coming out of Ireland at the moment with Damiens Rice and Dempsey, Dublin's Ten Speed Racer, Cork's Simple Kid, - and now this assured debut from THE CITADELS, where the fresh confident songwriting of frontman Cormac O Caoimh suggests a promising future for the band.
Tom Robinson, BBC Music
Excellent. I have it on repeat on my headphones while sitting at the computer........ Worth waiting for.
GigIreland.com
Letting go Holding on is an exemplary and masterful piece of work both in the musical content, lyrics and vocals
Irishbandslive.co.uk
The album is well written throughout; vocalist and guitarist Cormac O'Caoimh's quest for tunefulness throws up a number of fine songs. An album out of time but - in this case - it's a cause for celebration.
Leonard's Lair
Happy new year everyone. 2007 was a super year and 2008 will be even better. In 2007 I got to travel to Toronto as part of the Canadian Music Festival, and recorded and released my debut cd "Start a spark" as well embarking on a tour that took me Amsterdam, dates in London and around Ireland. The album was released in August and received some nice reviews (see below) and plans are afoot to release a second single early 2008. In the meantime I have been busy writing a whole lot of new quiet songs that may see the light of day before this new year is out.
Start a spark reviews:
Luminous front man Cormac O Caoimh releases his first solo album. More than your typical singer-songwriter, O Caoimh mixes pop sensibility with finely tuned song writing wrapping it all up in his soft melodic confidence and sharp lyrical commentary
Hot Press 09/08/2007
“Corkman O Caoimh manages to avoid several of the pitfalls one would normally assocate with Irish singer-songwriters on his debut solo record. For much of the album, he sounds more like an indie-pop artist than an acoustic troubadour. ‘Deep Sea Diving has a light dreamy melody reminiscent of The Sundays, while the sweet boy-girl interplay of ‘Ghosts’ call
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