Too Cool To Dance is the first musical offering from new Irish duo The Winter Codes. It is the brainchild of Barney Murray and David Walshe.

Their five tracks on their EP rouse the spirits while being thoughtful too. There are love songs for people who don’t ‘do’ love songs; songs of affection for the country that bred them and the delight of pastures new. Then there is the tale of a ne’er do well getting his comeuppance and all presented with raw emotion, heart and soul. They cite influences ranging from The Pogues to the classic songwriting of Joe Jackson and melodic new wave bands like The Undertones.

The project was over ten years in gestation.

Barney was the founding member of the band Blood Or Whiskey. He and Paul Walshe, David’s twin brother, were driving forces within that group. They gigged for nine years ‘the length and breadth of the country’ but became increasingly disillusioned with the direction that the band they loved was taking. ‘I formed Blood Or Whiskey but they became influenced by bands such as Dropkick Murphys and I felt pressurised by the other members to follow that musical direction,’ Barney says.

Barney had no desire to ‘go electric’ and quit. Paul left too. Barney then moved to Tullamore, in County Offaly. After moving there, he began working as a security guard.

‘There were a good few long night shifts when there wasn’t much of anything to do but listen to music,’ he says. 'Some nights I would spend eight hours straight listening to nothing but Bob Dylan.’

Barney says Dylan was more of an inspiration than influence.

He also began working on songs that satisfied his musical cravings and Paul Walshe used to travel from Dublin to the Offaly town to work with him on the new music he was creating. He recalls a creative period in the midlands.

 ‘Paul and I would hammer the songs into shape until all hours of the night in the kitchen, with a small tape recorder to record what we were doing. Originally we called ourselves Winter Dream Stars; this was later changed to The Winter Codes. We wanted a name that took us away from the shamrocks, shillelaghs and alcohol references; we’d done all that.’

Sadly, Paul was suddenly taken ill. He was rushed to intensive care but tragically after two weeks he succumbed to pancreatitis. The musician who is still much missed was only 40.

 ‘After Paul took up guitar I began to learn guitar from him,’ David says. ‘I know he would have wanted us to continue what he and Barney had started. I think he would have loved what we’ve done.’

‘At times it was as if Paul was with us. We did find ourselves at times wondering: "what would Paul think of this?"' Barney says.

They began casting around for personnel who could add to the sound. First to sign up was Dave Hingerty, who has played drums with the Frames and sound engineer Sean Montgomery-Dietz who is as informed by stints working in the States as his experiences on the Irish music scene.

‘Dave Hingerty really ‘got’ what we were doing and Sean wasn’t just some gun-for-hire, he loved it too,’ Barney says.  ‘They told us they felt it was honest, truthful and were enthusiastic straight away.’

They took their time to appraise what they felt they needed to bring to the recordings in terms of other players and instrumentation. Over a two year period a select band of players brought body and soul to the embryonic pieces. At various times they called Dáithí Melia to add banjo and acoustic guitar; Louise Condron lent her skills on Tin Whistle, Flute and Piano; Jason Lyons added Bass and Electric guitar while Peter McNamara brought his prowess on Fiddle and Harmonica.

Barney and David are agreed that ‘when we persuaded Dáithí, Louise, Jason and Peter to come on board, it was like ducks in a row. It just took shape exactly as we’d hoped.’

The title of the EP, Too Cool To Dance, is taken from a lyric in the first track, Dublin Girl. Barney also sings ‘she will dump me right on the spot if I ever call her a mot’ in an unashamed use of Dublinese. He also sings ‘Not so hung up about the past, I’m just glad to find love at last.’

‘You know that she’s my Dublin girl…for life’ is a chorus that is instantly memorable and it could become an anthem for anyone lucky enough to have found love in the fair city or county.

 ‘Friend In Tullamore is autobiographical,’ Barney says. ‘I had lived all my life in Leixlip before I moved to Tullamore. It just celebrates the welcome I received and friends I’ve made since I moved there over ten years ago.’

Satellite Town is about a girl who leaves for a life beyond its constricting confines but before the parting of the ways warns ‘In 10 or 15 years from now I’ll call you on the phone you’ll be still living in this Satellite Town…alone’

Troublesome Girl ‘is just about girls I’ve known,’ he says.

A line in the chorus goes: ‘She’s a troublesome girl and I love her so. She tries to tell me everything she thinks I need to know.’

The closing track, Too Sly To Die tells of a character who ‘ruled by pain and fear’ ‘had a conscience like a sieve’ ‘would avenge a crooked look’ though it was thought he was ‘too sly to die… (he) but bought it still.’

It’s a composite of different people,’ Barney explains.

 ‘The character is just one of those types of people that if you met him for real you would avoid eye contact with.’

That is definitely not the case with The Winter Codes.

‘We have many other songs,’ they say.

 ‘If the people like Too Cool To Dance then it would encourage us to make an album.’

Let’s hope that it is only a matter of time.