Reviews

Album Review: M’ADAM – Horse Food Budget 1984

M’ADAM is an indie folk artist from Cork, Ireland who has just released his debut album. A journey through struggles, arriving at triumph, it’s delightfully titled Horse Food Budget 1984.

By Graeme Smith

M’ADAM started his musical journey in 2019 upon completion of his PhD in Engineering. His debut is an introspective and revealing story, tackling themes such as resilience and imposter syndrome. The album opens with Come Back. It’s a gentle introduction, led by acoustic guitar and M’ADAM’s soulful vocals. As the track progresses, subtle instrumental textures come in, finally arriving at a rich and atmospheric folk arrangement. It’s a beautiful start.

Come In livens things up with a cantering country composition and bright lyrical message. Take Me Down is a reflective duet which smoulders with a sense of heartbreak. Cuckoo feels raw and biting. Time is Right rounds off the first half of the album with an emotional, piano-led moment. Its expansive yet intimate feel makes it a highlight.

Second Place opens the album’s second half with powerful shades of light and dark before Doubt it introduces a fiery, irreverent folk groove. See The Light draws the listener in with its use of minimalism before exploding to a fist-pumping climax. A resemblance to countrymen U2 makes it another highlight.

The album is then rounded of by the vulnerable, comforting Ease Your Soul and the bluesy, rumbling You Are Back. The latter is a textured, experimental, empowering wonder, and the perfect way to close the album’s emotional journey.

M’ADAM’s debut album is an ambitious one but he nails it. Its journey is emotionally complex, instrumentally rich and always utterly compelling. He’s a relative newcomer to the indie folk scene but is certainly making himself known with this album. He’s definitely one to keep an eye on.

Horse Food Budget 1984 was recorded and mixed at Stoneview studios, Blarney by Colin Noone, with additional recordings by Fintan McKahey at Ivy Hill studios, home studios, Mayfield, Glanmire Carrigtwohill and Manchester, all during the coronavirus pandemic. You can give it a listen below.