McMullan’s first foray into the world of high fidelity sees his songs of madness and despair plunged into rich arrangements of drums, fiddle and piano.

‘Ode To Tremble’ owes its lyrics to a breadown of Oberst-sized proportions, while perplexingly its accompaniment refuses to give up on the big screen dream: delay, reverb and echo wash over the listener in wave after wave of guitar.  By sharp contrast ‘She Is Waking’ showcases Aaron’s voice and songwriting craft on their own, with nothing but his biting lyrics and rasping Magowan-esque delivery to bedazzle the listener.

However it is on numbers such as ‘City Country City’ and ‘Blue From Black’ that the portentious words of “train tracks / sun bleached stones / April evenings / accentuating every syllable,” fuse with ragged percussive stomps and diseased guitar escapades that give McMullan the epic stage he deserves.  An eclectic folk record worthy of placement between the Cash and Waits part of your collection.

“There is something about this disc that leaves me awestruck. I’ve not heard an album that has excited me in this manner since I heard my first Clash album years and years ago.” - Richard Marcus, Blogcritics.org