Fionn Regan - 100 Acres of Sycamore

Fionn Regan - "I'm a man...with a child's heart" sings the Mercury Award-nominated Irish songwriter on this third album of sophisticated, unpretentious neo-folk -- released this past summer in Europe, finally hitting the U.S....Regan's 2006 one-man show U.K. debut found its way to American shores via a deal with Lost Highway a year later, but he still remains pretty much an unknown on this side of the pond -- not helped by the fact that his fine second album Shadow of An Empire (2010) was never even released in the U.S. // Release: 100 Acres of Sycamore (January 31, Heavenly) // Sounds like: mellow and unpretentious, intelligent and never cloying, Regan channels Brit folk icons like Nick Drake but finds his own particular niche, thanks to literate, poetic and heartfelt lyricism -- with the occasional sharp bite -- and an artisan's skill with a melody...

Quote: "When it came to the record and to translating my ideas and how I want the record to sound, my idea was to record it in a chronological fashion from top to end. I felt like the record feels like it’s a little film or a play or something like that. Although, I don’t know what the narrative is, that’s the way it feels to me, more in an abstract way." // What we like: 100 Acres steps away from the larger sound of Empire and back to the debut's understated acoustic sound but the new songs seem more fully realized, thanks in great part to the lushly rendered orchestration and Regan's maturity as a songwriter..."For A Nightingale" shimmers in Drake-ian glory while "List of Distractions" soars with strings attached and Regan's voice wrapped warmly around a classic melody...

Fionn Regan - "List of Distractions" (from 100 Acres of Sycamore)

Fionn Regan - "100 Acres of Sycamore" (from 100 Acres of Sycamore)