Review Summary: Flawless live, Dempsey delivers a live EP with a pitch perfect performance.
Days before the release of his solo debut, Something For Kate mastermind Paul Dempsey played an intimate gig in Sydney playing five of his favourite tracks that were on his solo album,
Everything Is True. The release then was held back until October and was only available via iTunes, though for the small price tag that is comes with, it is definitely worth the purchase.
An acoustic set usually can be an undoing of an artist since every aspect of the music is stripped down, and flaws can be found in an artist’s musical talent, though Paul Dempsey is one of those annoying kind of people that you can’t find any kind of imperfection in when they perform live.
Armed with his trusty Maton acoustic guitar and his voice box, Dempsey rips into the set starting with one of the mid tempo songs from the album, ‘Theme From A Nice Guy’. As the song bounces from simplistic verses and intricate guitar work, Dempsey than lets his angelic like falsetto range come to the fore in the outro, much to the pleasure of the crowd. These amazing falsetto moments are also found in the closing number ‘Safety In Numbness’ which really shows off the talent that Dempsey has and how large his range is. Basically, Dempsey’s vocals are even more splendid live then in the studio.
The rawness of the sound on this record is quite brilliant, as you can sense how these songs work so perfectly without the backing of a band and how they almost sound like they belong with just a guitar accompaniment. Though the only issue found with this EP is that Dempsey didn’t include the two acoustic songs from
Everything Is True, ‘Out The Airlock’ and ‘Man of The Moment’ though it makes sense not to strip songs down that are already bare naked.
Dempsey is quite the performer and will have the listener captivated with every twist and turn on this EP. Dempsey’s vocals are awe inspiring and his guitar work is second to none. For the poor souls that will never get to see Dempsey grace the stage live, this a must buy as it practically feels like you are sitting in the audience watching Paul Dempsey work his magic, and weave a web of beauty through his compositions.
