What is Fionn Regan up to?

I’ve enjoyed Fionn Regan’s music ever since a fellow member of a forum I posted a lot on, send me his Hotel Room EP as a ‘Thank You’ for some bootlegs (read: live recordings of a band) I sent him. After releasing his excellent debut The End of History in 2006 (10 years ago, wow!) he released a couple of more albums, the more electrified The Shadow of an Empire and the drowning-in-strings 100 Acres of Sycamore. Sometimes, to my taste, this record feels a bit too lush. It’s a beautiful set of recordings, but I didn’t connect with it as much as the previous two albums.

However, after that album, Fionn Regan returned back to basics with his 2012 release The Bunkhouse Sessions, vol. 1: Anchor Black Tattoo. This album was recorded in a most basic fashion and this means the songs are intimately presented to your ears.

Also, check out this live version with another favourite of mine, The Staves:

I would call it a return to form, where it not that I don’t think he ever ‘lost’ it. Still, it made me very excited for future Fionn Regan releases, especially because of the vol. 1 in the title of this 2012 record. Sadly, that has been the last music he has released on his own. Apparently, he played on the Helsinki album released last year, but besides that it’s been awful quiet in Fionn Regan land. Which is not uncommon in between albums for Mr Regan.

However.

Fionn Regan has turned into one of the more prolific Instagram users I follow. He posts multiple photos every week, mostly black and white to a following of 1200+. They are nice photos, usually lacking any words or comments from the man himself. Sometimes he also posts art work and sometimes you can see him in or near a recording studio.

In an interview with the excellent website ForFolkssake.com he says:

I find sometimes that in the world of the singer-songwriter I don’t know where I fit in…I find that I’m kind of at odds with a lot – well, I’m always going against the world and challenging it, especially the more commercial end of the singer-songwriter spectrum. I don’t understand it! I don’t feel that that’s where my stuff’s the strongest – it’s at odds with the time period maybe. When it comes to words I have a great love for words and I think that will become more of interest to me – at some point I’d love to just concentrate on words.

He meant as a lyricist or poet. Interestingly, for his audience at least, he’s now concentrating on images, not words. I like his pictures, which show a keen eye for the beautiful in the mundane, and are sometimes funny. Besides the occasional selfie of course.

Now, earlier this year Fionn Regan performed live for the first time in years, supporting Richard Hawley at Meltdown Festival. There was, according to fans on the RH Forum, no mention of a new album or new EP. But, having never seen the man play a live show, keep hoping for a new record.

We can see what Fionn Regan is up to on Instagram. But it offers, sadly, no explanation why he hasn’t made another album. Yes, there are plenty of singer/songwriters around, but Fionn’s music, with its delicate guitar parts and its poetic, cryptic yet touching lyrics offers something most of those singer/songwriters’ don’t. So whatever Fionn Regan is up to, I hope he’s also making new music. And that we’ll be hearing it soon.