Fighting With Your Shadow is the latest solo album by Mark Mulholland and goes back to his Rock & Roll roots, working again with the band he was in that played with Nikki Sudden and other musical compadres from his long interesting journey. Mark is backed on this album by Christophe Borca, Stephane Ducerain, Joe Armstrong, Sean Codron, Gregor Heuze, Matt De Harp, Ronald Oor and Chris Hughes, the album was recorded in Paris and Berlin. Like so many of the albums I review it was mastered by Uwe Teichert.
The album opens with Reality TV a louche almost Paul Westerberg style rocker for the evils of Reality TV and how it's changed things for ill.
Another Memory has a burnished bruised feel, bringing up memoires of past battles, good and bad including the coma the drummer Stephane Doucerain was in when it was written, he thankfully recovered to play on this tune with an all Nikki Sudden alumni band, it has that down at heart yet still hopeful feel that Nikki did so well.
Somebody Else's Problem is the knowledge that you've moved on from that nightmare partner, someone else has to deal with all your crap and Mark can concentrate on playing another remarkable guitar solo, crafting great songs like this, without the dark distressing strain you put on his psyche, but he bears no grudges, because your now an inspiration for songs like this.
Fighting With Your Shadow was inspired by is friend Chico Antonio and a tale he told after a gig in Maputo, this is dedicated to Chico who would have played on this, but he died 2 weeks before he was due to record his parts, the dark pain in the acoustic guitar solo shines through, lyrics make clear that fighting with yourself is even more futile than fighting with others, you have to sort yourself out first.
Sleepwalking was originally an outtake from the sessions for the excellent Rummage album Somewhere Else, this has a lazy hazy half-asleep feel for the somnambulistic feelings that came over lots of people during the pandemic lockdowns, that sense of dislocation, not knowing when normality might return.
Nothing To Prove is a song sticking two rather hazy fingers up at all the bullies trying to run your life, do what you gotta do, remember you really have Nothing To Prove, laid-back guitars make clear you can succeed no matter what the doubter might say.
Best Times for the belief that the Best Times are always where you are right now, the need to make the best of your life and enjoy every moment and experience everything you can while sounding like the more downbeat Last Bandits songs.
Face In The Mirror is an old tune of Mark's that he has added new lyrics too, it has the feel of being a close cousin to Silver Street, sharing the magnificence of that milestone tune, like the louchest Rolling stones song from the mid-70s, I could happily have this song stuck on repeat for an hour or two.
Morning Sun is keyboards driven ode to the joys of being up to see the sun rise in the morning, the drums that revolve around the guitars feeling like they are pushing you out the door on another days business.
By The Time The Tales Are Told is a classic road worn touring musicians' song, making clear they will be 500 miles away before anyone is telling tales of what went down that night, all the trouble they caused before leaving for the next date on the tour, whatever happens they have no regrets, it's the life of wandering musicians.
The album closes with A Country Song a heartbroken depressed down at heart tune that Mark and Stephane wrote and recorded at 7 am having been up all night talking about how bad they have been, all the scrapes that make the lives they have led seem worse than A Country Song, this needs to be played on Country stations the world over.
Find out more at https://portsofcallmusic.com/product/fighting-with-your-shadow/ https://markmulholland.net/projects/fighting-with-your-shadow/ https://www.facebook.com/markmulhollandmusic
