In October, Anglo-Irish singer/songwriter Michael J Sheehy released Distance is the Soul of Beauty, a collection of intimate, tender reflections on love, life and loss, hailed on this site as “a profound and touching response to these dark times.”
Now the former frontman of Dream City Film Club returns with two new songs, released exclusively via Bandcamp, to raise funds for grass roots music venues fighting for survival due to COVID-19 restrictions, represented by the Music Venue Trust.
The Places We Used To Dance is a lament for bygone days and long-shuttered venues, a source of sorrow for gig-goers long before the Covid-19 pandemic brought the live music industry juddering to a halt.
“It was written a while ago,” says Sheehy. “I had in mind [London venues] the Bull and Gate in Kentish Town and the 12 Bar Club on Denmark Street, two places that will always mean so much to me. Recent events have really driven home just how important these places are and the sad reality is, if we lose them they won’t be replaced. We have to fight tooth and nail. Like many, I’m struggling right now, music is such an important part of my life both as an artist and a punter. The absence of live music has been pretty hard to take and the fact that so many venues are in danger of closing their doors for good is quite frankly, terrifying.”
Baby, Baby, Baby (Can I Tell You Something?), meanwhile, is a bitter sweet song from a jilted lover to a callous heartbreaker.
“It’s either kind of cute or a little bit ugly,” says Sheehy. “I’m not sure which.”
Download the two track single from Sheehy’s Bandcamp page. As stated, all proceeds from this release will be going to the Music Venue Trust.
