Storytelling has always been a big part of Irish music, and it is an instinct Dysmusia brings into his own work. Based between Antrim and Dublin and raised in a deeply musical family, he blends that Irish influence with a modern folk rock sound.
Out now via Now Listen, his latest single, “In your eyes”, is a good example of that approach. Rather than dressing up its subject, Dysmusia gets straight into the confusion of an on-off relationship and the thoughts that surface when someone from the past is still on your mind.
The song opens with him drinking and wondering what his former partner might be doing. He tries to shift his attention elsewhere, but the thought keeps returning. From there, the lyrics move through a relationship that has already gone through plenty of highs and lows.
“Made our way up the incline / Went from peaking to flatline” is an especially effective description of that history. It takes something complicated and makes it easy to picture. Later, “My cards are on the table” brings the song into the present, with Dysmusia willing to find out whether there is anything left between them.
The music gives those lyrics plenty of room. A dropped-tuned acoustic guitar provides the main foundation, while a second guitar in standard tuning adds extra depth and brings out the indie-rock side of his sound.
Dysmusia has already picked up more than 1,000 radio plays in six months, including airplay on BBC Radio Wales, and “In your eyes” gives that growing audience another good reason to pay attention.
It is a song built on a familiar situation, but the combination of Irish storytelling and guitar-driven songwriting gives it a character of its own.
