There’s no doubt that music brings people together. Think back to some of the gigs you’ve been to – how many people in that room did you actually know? Odds are, very few. Yet the entire space is brimming with shared anticipation, a cohesive chaos.

But why is it that, once the last chord has played, once the house lights have come up, the euphoria of a live gig melts away instantaneously – and the crowd becomes strangers once again?

It is these moments that trouble and concern Taylor O’Leary. The first verse of the ironically titled What a Wonderful World is a battle between the Devil and God.

Taylor draws on the notion that we are overseen by a mad God – the world is “fucked and God didn’t do a thing to help.”

She uses the chorus to drive home her point: “We are completely powerless, yet everyone is so power-hungry.”
This rather bleak outlook on the world is hidden beneath a peaceful chord progression and melody – perhaps a nod to how unaware we are of the terrible things we choose to ignore in today’s world.

In the barren landscape that is the live gigging world at the moment, we at Troubadour Distillery Cork are proud to offer a bastion – a shadow resembling that of a live performance.

— James Christopher