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Tracklist:
The Pillow Where Your Head Does Lay
Ringsend

Release date: May 31st 2010

Oh Ruin Is Eoin O’Ruinaigh, originally from Dublin but now residing in London. Having started out playing in a host of bands, at one point embarking on a tour supporting Morrissey, he’s now gone solo and is turning out such six-string gems as the two tracks collected on this single. A beguiling melange of untempered blues and campfire songs which draw on a rich Irish folk tradition, Eoin’s songs are intricately drawn sketches accompanied by deftly finger-picked melodies, even performed on guitars made by Eoin himself.

The lead track here is ‘The Pillow Where Your Head Does Lay’, a strident folk tale constructed from sparring acoustic guitars, rumbling drums and brief string flourishes. Lithe and magnetic, there’s a raw sense of passion which courses throughout the song, both lyrically and in the insistent melody, while Eoin opines, “I’ll make you my muse, you’ll make me do things that I could never do”.

On the reverse, ‘Ringsend’ is an echo-laden folk vignette detailing “imagined outrages and preposterous wrongs”. Packed with drama and a howling intensity, the dark, taught melody on this macabre slice of austere folk is offset by Eoin’s plaintive tones, and it builds from a hushed beginning into something bigger, bolder and more complex, while the addition of understated electric piano puts a modern twist on the traditional troubadour.

Oh Ruin Have been booked for summer festivals including Green Man, Moseley Folk Festival and End of the Road, and with a session for Marc Riley’s show on BBC 6Music already in the bag, you’ll be hearing plenty more from them in the months to come.

For fans of Bill Callahan/Smog, Radar Brothers; Will Oldham and Bon Iver.

Vinyl edition of 500 in a matt varnished reverse board sleeve