• Home
  • Contact
  • Submit a News Release
Monday, May 19, 2025
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
Mainland Times — Breaking Continental European News
  • Climate
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Europe
  • Health
  • Education
  • Society
  • Sport
  • World
  • Climate
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Europe
  • Health
  • Education
  • Society
  • Sport
  • World
No Result
View All Result
Mainland Times — Breaking Continental European News
No Result
View All Result
Home Society

Breaking Out review – doc about Irish singer-songwriter lays the piety on thick

Michael Sanders by Michael Sanders
11/30/2021
in Society
Breaking Out review – doc about Irish singer-songwriter lays the piety on thick
11
VIEWS

This tribute to the Irish singer-songwriter Fergus O’Farrell is loving and competently made, but to be honest it’s a wee bit of a snooze, thickly dusted as it is with platitudes and piety. O’Farrell, who died in 2016 from muscular dystrophy (with which he was diagnosed as a child), had been the lead singer in a cult band called Interference, who never quite made it big back in the late 1980s/early 90s.

You could posit all sorts of reasons for his lack of success, such as the fact that record companies were hesitant to sign an act whose front man was in a wheelchair, or that there was just too much competition in the rammed Dublin music scene at a time, when everyone thought they could be the next U2. Or perhaps – whisper it – it’s because the music isn’t all that great. O’Farrell certainly had a belter of a voice, and it’s touching to see him performing in his heyday when he was a strikingly handsome fellow with a hideous mullet. But there were scads of bands around at the time who could play and sing just as well, and O’Farrell’s songwriting was, to be generous, rather hit and miss. O’Farrell was also apparently a perfectionist who could never quite finish things, a point illustrated in the footage here of him finessing the same songs over and over again with friends and bandmates in his home studio for a second album he’s never satisfied with.

Nevertheless, he had one huge hit with Gold, a tune he wrote in the 1990s but which he sings beautifully in an affecting scene in the 2007 film Once. That romantic drama starred O’Farrell’s old friend Glen Hansard as a struggling Dublin musician who meets a Czech flower seller (Markéta Irglová); the film went on to be a worldwide dark-horse hit, spawning a stage musical and many live performances, not least for O’Farrell, who made it to Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan to perform for a career-high moment.

Breaking Out is released on 19 November in cinemas.

Recommended

Winning Hearts and Minds: Crafting a PR Strategy That Resonates with Your Audience

Winning Hearts and Minds: Crafting a PR Strategy That Resonates with Your Audience

2 years ago
Do not encourage pupils to join climate protests, says draft DfE strategy

Do not encourage pupils to join climate protests, says draft DfE strategy

3 years ago

Popular News

  • The Top European Online Media Outlets: A Guide to Trusted News Sources

    The Top European Online Media Outlets: A Guide to Trusted News Sources

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Poland’s Bank Pekao opens London office

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • FineVPN Launches New VPN Service Using xRay Protocol for Enhanced Privacy and Security

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • US Event: Pharma Partnering US Summit 2025

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Paval brothers take over 59.4 percent of Cemacon Zalau

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Subscribe and receive the latest news to your email.

SUBSCRIBE

Category

  • Business
  • Climate
  • Economy
  • Education
  • Europe
  • Health
  • Latest
  • Society
  • Sport
  • World

Site Links

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

About Us

Mainland Times is an independent online outlet that publishes socially relevant news taking place on the European continent. Mainland Times aggregates news from several sources, and also provides coverage through a network of local correspondents.

  • Home
  • Contact
  • Submit a News Release

© 2021 All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Europe
  • Economy
  • Health
  • Climate
  • Climate
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Education
  • Society
  • World

© 2021 All rights reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In