Artist:     Michael McDermott

Album:     Orphans

Label:     Pauper Sky Records

Release Date:     2.8.2019

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Until a few short years ago, I’d never heard or heard of this remarkable guy, a US/Irish singer-songwriter with an extraordinary backstory that features astonishing success at an early age, when he was often likened to Dylan, followed by a sickening lurch downwards with addiction issues, threats of jail time, and scary involvement with a hard criminal underbelly. (For a taste, check our our Premiere HERE.)

Fortunately for us all, McDermott successfully pulled himself together, kicking his habits and returning to the musical world with a couple of excellent albums, Willow Springs, in 2014, and the critically acclaimed follow-up, Out From Under, in 2017. Orphans, his third redemption release, is yet another album that surely deserves widespread acclaim and attention. This is a musician who can not only hold a tune more than well, but turns out finely-crafted lyrics born of surprising literary interests and influences, each coated in a richly melodic beauty. This 12-track release features all of his usual talents and again highlights just how significant this guy should be in modern US music terms. Crossing genres, McDermott moves effortlessly through near-rock ’n’ roll, country, Americana, and simply top-dollar story-telling brilliance.

This is his third release post-rebirth. He has another eight albums out from the days before he successfully returned to self-conscious sanity and common sense, a truly remarkable turnaround that is due at least in part to his settling down with his partner and a young kid in a rural part of the Midwest, where temptations may be fewer and further apart. Whatever the reason, we have a guy who is clearly a major talent, with shades of John Hiatt, Steve Earle, and the arresting lyricism of the late Guy Clarke seemingly running through his clean veins. Orphans is a wonderful release, one to catch and enjoy.

—Iain Patience