We Didn’t Feel Alone Album Review

I have to admit that it took far too long for me to get around to reviewing Mahoney Harris’s newly released album, We Didn’t Feel Alone.

It kind of stared at me every day with a looming deadline staring me in the face, funnily enough it suited now more than it would have suited then. So I find myself sipping tea on the first Sunday evening of daylight savings with a very mood suited album of acoustic based, moody but very pretty songs.

There are parts in which remind me of the John Frusciante’s, To Record Only Water for Ten Days, echoing also the likes of Enya and of local artists Jan Hellriegel and Julia Deans.

Overall the tracks match really well, not in the sense that they sound the same but in that they keep a solid musical theme through out, sometimes using similar samples between songs, which I thought tied them together well.

Mahoney has a very natural and unforced voice which pulled my attention right from the hauntingly beautiful opening track, Real Deal. She has created some beautiful arrangements for the songs that really take the tracks into that place where you can put on head phones and kind of get lost in the textures and atmosphere behind the songs.

Funnily enough out of the 9 beautifully captured songs featured on her debut full length album, it is the opening track (Real Deal) and closing track (We Didn’t Feel Alone) that really grabbed me on the first few listens. I really like the warmth to the tracks, the sound achieved is a very live sound while still very balanced and thought out, everyone sits well in their parts and they all compliment each other well.

We Didn’t Feel Alone is another reason why I support crowd funding sites as it helps legitimate artists record high quality releases such as Mahoney’s new offering, showing that if we can get behind our artists we won’t simply be “good for a Kiwi”.
We Didn’t Feel Alone is available through iTunes and http://www.amplifier.co.nz/. Support local artists!