The Sentimental Tourists – Without Love We Expire
The Sentimental Tourists – Without Love We Expire
Words: Paul McDermott
What a time to be a fan of seminal 90s Irish guitar bands Whipping Boy and Into Paradise. Over on Substack both Paul Page and Jimmy Eadie, respectively the guitarists from both bands, are looking back and gifting us their bands’ histories chapter by chapter. Between 2021 and 2023 Dave Long, Into Paradise’s main man, and his old friend Shane O’Neill from Blue in Heaven released a trio of great albums (Moll & Zeis, Age of Finding Stars and And You Can’t Dream That). Long and Page have been busy keeping their creative juices flowing, yet somehow they’re also found time to collaborate. The duo has just released Without Love We Expire, their debut album as The Sentimental Tourists, produced by Eadie.
The opening line from ‘Living in Smoke Dreams’, the album’s opening track, gives the album its title. It’s a slow burner, Long’s vocals swathed in Page’s gorgeous noisy guitar. ‘Under the Waves’, with its sing-along chorus comes next, one of several epic moments on the album. In some parallel world ‘Under the Waves’ is a hit single and Long and Page are household names. Other highlights, ‘Ghosts’ and ‘Happy Beatle’, are balanced by slower numbers ‘Distant Rain’, ‘When the Moment Comes’ and ‘Witches Lane’. Joanne Loughman, formerly the singer of The Glee Club, Setanta label mates of Into Paradise, lends her beautiful voice to backing vocals on penultimate tune‘Forever’.
The album finishes with a stripped back take on the country classic ‘The Same Way You Came In’. Long first heard Big Tom’s version of the Max D. Barnes’ tune listening to the Sounds Country show on Radio Kerry and as he sings the refrain, “It makes no difference who you are, skid row Joe or superstar, you’re going out the same way you came in” Page’s guitar and Michael Murphy’s dulcimer provide an apt evocative backdrop. A beautiful ending to a great album.
https://thesentimentaltourists.bandcamp.com/album/without-love-we-expire