Mary Coughlan - Tired & Emotional (1987/2020)

Tired And Emotional, the debut from Mary Coughlan is a lot of fun that draws on folk, jazz and blues music, reportedly recorded in Galway in about two days. The opening Double Cross is an accordion led ballad of a cheating man and a broken hearted woman, the The Beach with it's barking saxophone and thumping double bass conjures up images of The Girl From Ipanema, it's simple, catchy and Coughlan's voice is commanding and strong. Then things slow down as low as they can go on Meet Me Where They Play the Blues where the heartbreak pours like fog on a winter night but Delaney's Gone Back on the Wine lifts us back to the barroom and fills our glasses. Sense of Silence (S.O.S.) is a strange song here with synths and big reverb on the voice. It's the least engaging track and actually breaks the mood a little. Side two opens with the rollicking Nobody's Business/The Tango which is where the magic is when she sings like a lark and then it's more slow blues with Mama Just Wants to Barrelhouse All Night Long. Next we get a Cowboy tale in Country Fair Dance (The Cowboy Song) where two men dual over a woman. Lady in Green might sound cheerful and happy but it's actually about a man that finds a dead woman floating in a river, most possibly a suicide. The album closes with Seduced which feature Coughlan's vocal only accompanied with a rubbery, growling double bass. It's an album miles away from international pop but it's the work of a singer singing the songs she loves.