John Francis Flynn ^【IRL】

John Francis Flynn’s Look Over The Wall, See The Sky is a powerful musical journey that directly challenges the postcard fantasy of Ireland—all rolling hills, giants, saints, and snakes. As Flynn himself states, it involves a fair bit of paddywhackery and I hate paddywhackery. Just like its psyche-celtic album art, which cleverly presents a crystal goblet of luminous green Crème de Menthe on a mossy ledge, the album perfectly encapsulates this imagined idea of Ireland, both funny and poignant. Yet, Flynn’s work unflinchingly confronts the stark reality: the towering glass giants of Google and Facebook, unaffordable luxury hotels lining the Liffey amidst a homelessness epidemic, and the highest rents in Europe. This album invites listeners into a trance-like state, witnessing history through a modern lens.

Flynn’s unique musical language employs unconventional instrumentation and effects as a guttural language, creating a sonic landscape that is often jagged and teeters on disharmony. Drones, warped clarinets, and percussive glitches become expressions of intense sadness, mirroring lives being torn apart, yet providing profound emotional leverage. Traditional songs are masterfully unpicked and rearranged, floating in a surreal space between the past and the present, the analog and the digital, between love and tragedy. Ultimately, Look Over The Wall, See The Sky is a powerful re-imagining of traditional Irish music, offering a hopeful fantasy of an Ireland that could exist over the wall: powerful, hopeful, and free.