Review: Dublin’s Blue Fish Diamond Shine in “Free,” a Folk Rock Beacon of Hope & Light

Blue Fish Diamond © Ruth Medjber
Blue Fish Diamond © Ruth Medjber
A sun-kissed beacon of hope and light, Blue Fish Diamond’s “Free” is a feel-good, invigorating breath of fresh air full of life and the promise of a better tomorrow.
Stream: “Free” – Blue Fish Diamond




It’s been well over a year since any one of us felt truly free, but just because we’ve been waylaid by this pandemic doesn’t mean we’ll be held captive by it forever: The sun will come out and the seasons will change, as Scottish singer/songwriter Nina Nesbitt so eloquently sang – and it’s with that same perspective that Dublin indie folk band Blue Fish Diamond lift our spirits with their soaring new single. A sun-kissed beacon of hope and light, “Free” is a feel-good, invigorating breath of fresh air full of life and the promise of a better tomorrow.

Blue Fish Diamond - Free Artwork (credit Mark Keogh)
Free – Blue Fish Diamond
Break out
There are birds flying from my lonely window
Soaring in their sky blue coloured waistcoats
Don’t care where they’re going they are free
Like they’re meant to be
Say now
Will the words that I find in the daylight
Bring peace to a mind that is caged by
A restless desire to be free

Like we’re meant to be Free,
like we’re meant to be

Released April 28, 2021 via Inter Generation Records, “Free” arrives this Spring as parts of the world slowly begin to open up, and as some of us are just starting to see a light at the end of this terribly long tunnel. Following February’s poignant and bittersweet “Sunshine in My Brain,” “Free” finds Dublin’s Blue Fish Diamond in a state of revelry and celebration.

The band of Jim Murphy (rhythm guitar & lead vocals), Shay Sweeney (drums), Ronan Quinn (bass), Laura Ryder (piano), Axel McDonald (lead guitar), Matilda O’Mahony (backing vocals), and Ella Ryan (backing vocals) take a step back and smile as, together, they deliver a vibrant ode to nature and freedom through wily guitars, rich harmonies, driving backbeats, and charming visuals. Reminiscent of Tom Petty’s classic, driving rock sound with a Beatles-esque pep in its step, “Free” inspires hope in all who listen.

Blue Fish Diamond © Ruth Medjber
Blue Fish Diamond © Ruth Medjber
Counting down the days my friend
While the world keeps spinning on its edge
Bring us sweet life once again
Bring us sweet life once again

“This last year has been a very challenging time for all of us,” Blue Fish Diamond’s Jim Murphy says. “Thankfully there is hope on the horizon with the roll-out of vaccines, but we are still some months away from enjoying the freedoms of what was once everyday life. Our song ‘Free’ looks forward to that time.”

He adds, “‘Free’ was written as both a celebration of life and as a symbol of hope during a lengthy period of lockdown. The musical character of the verses is reflective compared with the driving and euphoric nature of the choruses. This contrast mirrors the lyrical content of the song. The imagery of birds and nature in the verses of the song captures a greater awareness for many of us of life’s more simple pleasures, while the choruses look forward to a time when life returns to ‘normal’ again. Musically, the song modulates between verses and choruses, like a bird flying in the sky that doesn’t care where it is going as it’s free. As the song says, let’s count down the days while the world keeps spinning on its edge, to a time when we can be free like birds and enjoy ‘sweet life once again.’

Blue Fish Diamond © Ruth Medjber
Blue Fish Diamond © Ruth Medjber
Lately
I hear beautiful sounds on the breeze
A choir of angels in the trees

To welcome sweet life back to the sea
Like it used to be

Sweet life, like it used to be
Counting down the days my friend
While the world keeps spinning on its edge
Bring us sweet life once again

Bring us sweet life once again

“Free” is not without its wistful moments, but Murphy and his bandmates have spent enough time dwelling in darkness’ dreary depths; here, Blue Fish Diamond balance the bittersweet with the euphoric and the joyous, embracing the hope of a brighter future and allowing themselves to embrace feelings of relief, comfort, connection, and release. We could all use a bit of that, so take a moment out of your busy days and slip into the elevating rapture of Blue Fish Diamond’s “Free.”

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:: stream/purchase “Free” here ::
Stream: “Free” – Blue Fish Diamond



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Blue Fish Diamond - Free Artwork (credit Mark Keogh)

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