𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 - this week: Fate Once Found Me / Four Falls - Nicholas Karl McNally

Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly - an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙁𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙊𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙚 / 𝙁𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙁𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙨 - 𝙉𝙞𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙖𝙨 𝙆𝙖𝙧𝙡 𝙈𝙘𝙉𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮

Charles is taking sides…

To make up for last week's "lazy" article, I will be doubling up this week... What is a single? I mean these days. It used to be a shiny black groovy platter with a great song on one side, and a very mediocre one on the other. This disc was 7 inches in diameter. I will skip over cassette tapes. Then came the CD. The CD single usually had two or three (or occasionally seven) songs on one side (usually one being decent), and no songs on the other. The disc was 4.75 inches in diameter. I will skip over downloads. Now we have streaming. It is ubiquitous. A modern single for streaming services has no sides, and no diameter. It usually has one song. Usually not that great. There is something so sterile about releases these days, especially when it comes to single singles. No backside, no B-side, and nothing to hold. There isn’t even a barcode to ruin what would have been a perfectly good design. But speaking of design, its cover measures roughly 2 inches on an average sized phone screen. Do you think the cover of Sgt. Pepper would have been devised had it been designed for a canvas of 2 inches…?

I don’t know about you, but I prefer the old way. You rush to your nearest record store in order to pick out the latest single by your new favourite artist, and you clutch it in your hands on the way home (walking faster than usual), knowing full well that not only are you now the proud owner of that wondrous song you heard just once on the radio the previous day, but that you have another song to look forward to. The “flip-side”. It probably wasn’t going to be that great, but it was always a bonus. It felt like a little extra treat. Occasionally - in a weird way that you can’t quite put your finger on - it was better than the A-side! Let’s look at The Beatles again; because it’s always fun. We all know and love their 1965 hit, ‘Help!’, right? But what was the B-side? Did you even know there was a B-side? Is this whole thing of B-sides a revelation to you? You yunksters don’t know nuffin’. And you missed out, too! That B-side was ‘I’m Down’. Possibly one of Paul’s rawest vocal dazzlers in the entirety of The Beatles’ back catalogue! So that B-side was on the album, right? Nope. They never were. It was another incentive to get the single rather than wait for the album. Besides, usually (‘Help!’ being an exception) even the A-sides weren’t on the album. Everything was special and unique!

So that was 1965. ‘Revolver’ flipped the music world upside down in August 1966, and then they disappeared for a “whopping” six months!! I know, it seems ridiculous now, that six months was thought of as an absolute age… Welcome to 1967: the year of our lord. Or: the year our lord grew a moustache and dabbled in substances while dressed in purple bootcuts. Was it to be a new album…? Not YET! February brought us a single; but a single with a difference. A single that no doubt frustrated the hell out of radio stations. It gave them a choice… That’s right, folks. We didn’t have an A-side and a B-side, we had an A-side and an A-side. A double A-side, as it became known. This guaranteed TWO fabulous songs for the price of one! It was to be the very best of John, and the very best of Paul. George sulked, and Ringo just kept on smiling. ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ on one side, and ‘Penny Lane’ on the other. This was exactly 200% perfection, and a surefire way of getting to number one - as if they ever need worry about such a thing. The thing is, they failed. This couplet of sonic joys was to top out at a pitiful number TWO!! Well, number one must surely have been something VERY special indeed!……….. Ahem……. A middle-aged man of 30 by the name of Engelbert Humperdinck had recorded a song that yearned to be released. ‘Release Me’ stormed in at number one, and sat there for six weeks, leaving no chance for The Beatles to regain their throne. I later found out that the reason this double A-side didn't get to number one was because the sales were split between the two songs. It actually sold more than the Humperdinck intrusion. No fair!! So, is ‘Release Me’ actually any good? Well, while it remains far more famous than his song, ‘Lesbian Seagull’ - I'm not making this up - his 1967 album is titled “Twelve Great Songs plus ‘Release Me’”. An inspired title, but I think that says it all. It ain’t great. It’s pretty bloody awful, if we’re being honest. The B-side (‘Take My Heart’) was perhaps marginally better, but the bar was pretty low. Poor Beatles. George continued to sulk, Ringo continued to smile, Paul saw it as an incentive to do better next time, and John threw a chair through a window. All of this may or may not be exact fact. True fact!

So!! On the topic of double A-sides, I have something special for you. This is an artist I have “had on the show” just once before. And speaking of catchy artist names (here’s looking at you, Mr. Humperdinck), please welcome Canadia’s Nicholas Karl McNally to the stage! ‘Fate Once Found Me / Four Falls’ is the finest acoustic folk in all its double A-sidedness. For many months I have been re-watching the classic TV series, The Wonder Years. Despite running from 1988 to 1993, it was actually set in the late 60s and early 70s. It plonks me back in a simpler suburban America. I say “back”, but I wasn’t alive then, and I’ve never been to America… But somehow it feels familiar. It feels warm and cosy. It feels, safe. And now I’m sounding like the protagonist’s own narration. But why do I mention this? Because as soon as I pressed play, I felt like I was immersed in the soundtrack. You see, one of the great things about the show is the music throughout. It could be Steppenwolf’s ‘Born To Be Wild’ (possibly my favourite rock song of all time), but it also could be Joni Mitchell’s ‘I Think I Understand’, for a more pensive quality. It is this very quality that I hear in ‘Fate Once Found Me’. It is like a softer song written by the soul of NAS artist Bryan Cooper, but with the voice of NAS artist Dany Horovitz (once the hyped gig’s adrenaline has left his system). The soft plucks of the acoustic, with the gentlest, sincerest voice. A voice that starts lonely on line 1, but is joined by himself on line 2. It’s like he’s telling himself it’ll be okay. This could be double-tracked vocals, or this could be a "varispeed" chorus effect; whichever way, it adds another dimension. It’s also the moment that a second guitar joins in with a piano. Lush! It’s like pairing Paul Simon’s wishful yet wistful sound with Brian Wilson’s sombre, more heart-wrenching writing (more ‘You Still Believe In Me’ than ‘Surfin Safari’…!). You’ll hear Simon & Garfunkel (Gumfarkel, as I like to say) in the chord changes and melodies, not to mention Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s ‘Guinevere’ at 39 seconds. Pure beauty!

‘Four Falls’ continues the theme and precision of guitarist Bert Jansch, but in a more familiar folk style. There is an open drone in open strings as picked cycles commence their hypnosis. That is, until the strings are choked at 15 seconds. Nicholas starts to sing. Nick Drake lives (!), while Joni Mitchell serenades us with a plucked ostinato. The stereo field is as wide as the meadow before our very eyes. I’d like to compare Nicholas to the most famous folk singer of all time - Bob Dylan - but I can’t. Frankly, McNally is musically far superior. And he’s a damned sight better singer than Dylan! But then again, isn’t everyone? I only said this to annoy the die-hard Dylan fans. Tee-hee! Back to the song. If you thought we were only going to get guitar and voice, you are very much mistaken. 44 seconds in, things change. Is that a Mellotron cello or bagpipes…? I think it might very well be both! It’s like one of those rare Led Zeppelin acoustic numbers. Very British. Psychedelic in a Celtic way. Cider-Celtic? There is the constant feeling of lost reminiscence. As if to say, “What was it all for?”. And I don’t mean lyrically, I mean musically. The unison lines are bleak yet courageous. A perfect blend of major and minor, finishing unresolved. The lack of drums or percussion throughout somehow adds to overall impact. I then realised the possible main reason this works. It’s the guitar. It’s - I think - a 12-string. Meaning that every strike hits two strings at a time. Some will be in unison, others will be in octaves. But also, this means that the sound is naturally thickened. It creates texture and something altogether more substantial. McNally also does his own mixing. He thankfully didn’t cut out all that deep low end - something so many artists do these days. The sound is rich and alive!

‘Fate Once Found Me’ perhaps has more in terms of writing, yet ‘Four Falls’ has perhaps more in terms of graspable production.

I will be leaving the playlist up to you, the listeners. In the comments below, I want you to tell me which song you prefer. For the next week, both songs will be on the Connolly’s Corner playlist (Spotify and Apple Music), but a week from today, I will tally up the votes and keep just one. As well as your preferred choice, tell us all why you chose that one. Only one rule: you cannot pick Engelbert Humperdinck, as he is disqualified for spoiling everything. And if you don’t choose either song in your comment, I will assume that you have not read the article. PLEASE, though, don’t just choose the song that most others have chosen - it’s boring and pointless. And don’t choose the opposite of what everyone’s chosen either - annoying clever clogs. There are two sides to everything…

THIS is one worthy double A-side. In the words of Joni Mitchell, play “Both Sides, Now”.

You know when the glasses get muddled? “Whose cider you on?”

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