Von Venn, Forgetting The Fall | Album Review

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on Venn’s second album arrives with a quiet confidence that a lot of bands take years to find, if they find it at all. The Dublin outfit, led by Gary Cox, released their debut Jeanie is Out in 2023 to solid critical reception, and “Forgetting The Fall” suggests that attention was well placed.

The album is thematically dense without being heavy handed. Cox has spoken about writing these songs throughout 2024, and that timeline matters. There’s a restlessness running through the record that feels rooted in something real rather than manufactured for effect. Lost innocence, shifting values, the slow erosion of trust in institutions. These are not easy subjects to turn into listenable music, but Von Venn pull it off.

Opening track “Still Falling” eases you in before the album finds its footing with Mainstream, the lead single and arguably the centrepiece of the record. The track takes aim at bias in traditional media without ever becoming a lecture. Rebecca Lane’s saxophone solo lands at exactly the right moment and gives the song a texture the surrounding tracks don’t have. It’s a smart piece of sequencing.

“You Can Talk to Me” and “Only In The Night” show a different side of the band altogether, more restrained and emotionally open. Ciara Henry’s vocal contributions throughout the album add real depth, particularly on the quieter moments where the arrangements pull back and let the songs breathe.

Producer Terry Doyle, who also plays keyboards and synths on the record, has done a careful job at Soundcaster Studios. Nothing here is overcooked. The instrumentation serves the songs rather than competing with them, and Mark Wogan’s drumming throughout is measured and instinctive in equal parts.

“Be Free” closes the album on a note of genuine uplift that doesn’t feel unearned. After everything that precedes it, the optimism lands.

You can take a listen to ‘Forgetting The Fall‘ by Von Venn here. 

Four out of five – George James. 

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