Keep it simple.

“It’s usually sod’s law - when I don’t have anything with me, I get the best idea in the world,” says Ciaran McFeely, aka Simple Kid. “I’ve thought about getting a Dictaphone but it’s a bit too Alan Partridge isn’t it?” He adopts a Partridge-esque voice: “Idea for a song…”.

Ciaran began his musical life playing with Cork’s Young Offenders but, frustrated by the number of people involved with a band signed to a major record label, he decided to keep it simple. As Simple Kid he’s a one-man band, writing simple songs, pop-folk with a twist. “I guess it’s kind of indie,” he says, then adds, “with noises.”

His lyrics satirise the world we live in and the people in it: there’s the commuter who “prays for the weekend”, superstar “Penelope Prozac, a 70s throwback” and The Average Man who “is 35 years old, owns a car but is dreaming of a better one”. It’s not snide though. Instead, there's a touching warmth and human understanding. “I just write what’s on my mind,” he shrugs.

Truck On is his new single, written one night when he was suffering from insomnia. “I get insomnia all the time. I was living with other people and I was really bored, and I wanted to talk to them but they were all asleep. So I was thinking, it’s only another six hours until everyone gets up…”

The song is taken from his impressive debut album, SK1, released last autumn, nearly all of which was recorded in his bedroom with each song finished in only a couple of days. “When you get bored, that’s when it’s finished,” he says. “I sing it much better the day I’ve written it. It’s obviously when I’m more in tune with the melody because it’s new to me as well.”

The album prompted NME to describe him as “the postmodern Bob Dylan”. What does he think of such comparisons? “I feel mightily embarrassed, probably like most people who read anything like that about themselves,” he blushes. “It’s obviously nonsense but it probably helps my career in some way. I’m appreciative of it but it’s a very silly thing to say.”

It’s a big tag with which to burden such an unassuming fellow, but not entirely undeserved. Like Dylan he writes and sings catchy songs, full of personality that say a little bit more than the average pop song. So does that make him a singer/songwriter? “Depressingly, I do sing songs and I do write them, so I suppose technically I’m a singer/songwriter,” he reluctantly admits. “But I generally wouldn’t bring it up and I’d hope nobody else would.” Sorry Ciaran. Matt Walton 23 January 04

Simple Kid - Truck On, released 26 January 04 on 2M Recordings. SK1 is out now.

useful link: www.simplekid.co.uk