Passion, tension, and raw fervor coalesce in Mick Flannery’s “Young,” an emotionally charged fever dream born from our innermost depths. The latest single off the Irish singer/songwriter eighth album ‘Goodtime Charlie’ is a tender tempest: The soundtrack to our own intimate reckonings.
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Stream: “Young” – Mick Flannery
There’s a deep ache emanating out of Mick Flannery’s latest single.
It’s the fiery pulse of a turbulent soul; the churn of deep-seated unrest that refuses to bend or break. Passion, tension, and raw fervor coalesce in “Young,” an emotionally charged fever dream born from our innermost depths. Heartfelt and heated, this is the soundtrack to our own internal reckoning: A tender tempest we can never fully subdue.
Adolesce, struggle with the thought of being useless
Wander through the fog through the forest
Happen on a creature in the dark
And the beast is hungry
Figure this one, do that little
tough-boy look with your jaw
Put a little competent in your walk
No don’t look back, keep your head up,
breathe, look it in the eye
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Young,” the charming and churning third single taken off Mick Flannery’s forthcoming eighth studio album, Goodtime Charlie (out September 15, 2023 via Oh Boy Records).
The record arrives two years after Flannery’s critically acclaimed 2021 album In The Game with Susan O’Neill, which reached the No. 2 spot on the Official Albums Chart in Ireland, beating out artists like Rodrigo, Metallica, and Kanye West in the process. It was also the highest-selling independent album in Ireland and won 2021’s Choice Awards and 2 RTE Folk Awards.
While he’s only three singles into the album campaign, it’s starting to feel like Goodtime Charlie just might best its predecessor. Following the record’s roaring, rollicking title track “Goodtime Charlie” and the softer, sweeter piano-driven acoustic ballad “Morning Rain,” the smoldering “Young” is a spirited, heavy anthem with ambient undertones that highlights the Irish folk rock singer/songwriter’s voice, his poetic writing style, and his ability to leave an audience absolutely breathless.
Flannery rises out of softer verses into a soul-stirring chorus that shines with stunning feeling as he himself seems to surrender to the song, spilling his heart out in a captivating and cathartic reverie:
Young and ready,
young will testify into the night,
“come get me”
All about you, every shred of pain,
felt again, you mark me
“I had a scat vocal for this song and I wanted to adhere to the syllables and word placement,” Mick Flannery tells Atwood Magazine. “It proved difficult. The song is a collage of ideas in a way, but is mainly about the arc of life, what one should do in the face of danger, how one should carry themselves in life, and in the face of death.”
“The choruses are about a willingness to fight and where it comes from. The song suggests that, in young people, aggression and opposition can be more rooted in internal individual struggles than a rational fight against a perceived wrong in the world.”
Altruist, everything from comrade to populist
All of it beginning in a mystery
Seeing through the eye of a needle
And thinking makes thinking so, where am I though?
Do that little rat-race dance on the poor
Do that little tough-boy look with your jaw
What’s your God’s name? What’s your end-game
Why won’t you look me in the eye?
Young and ready, young will testify into the night, “come get me”
All about you, every shred of pain, felt again, you mark me
You, you, you, the animal
Rather than try to tamp down or quell his own inner turmoil, Mick Flannery embraces it, channeling that emotional fire into a musical blaze.
Visceral, vulnerable, uncompromising, and unapologetic, “Young” is a breathtaking display of inner tension and striking, resounding affirmation of Flannery’s renowned talents – not to mention his deeply evocative and gristly voice. Stream “Young” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and stay tuned for more from Flannery’s upcoming eighth album.
Goodtime Charlie is out September 15, 2023 via Oh Boy Records!
Atrophy, knowing that the end would come for everything
Happen on the creature in the forest
One last tough-boy look with your jaw
Lift it up, show your throat to the claw
Feel your heartbeat, breathe, look it in the eye
Young and ready,
young will testify into the night,
“come get me”
All about you, every shred of pain,
felt again, you mark me
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Stream: “Young” – Mick Flannery
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