The release of the self-titled debut album Somebody’s Child is a major milestone for Cian Godfrey. After several years of singles, additional band members, and a departure from Dublin to London, Godfrey’s creative ideas have, at last, coalesced into this release. As a result, Somebody’s Child is upfront about its deep connection to Godfrey’s upbringing–with accompanying musicals being a testament to the Dublin landscapes–and musical background. While the name “Somebody’s Child” may allude to an anonymous individual, Godfrey has ensured that this album is a picture of his own youth that is hazy enough for any listener to not only learn of his character, but to find similarities to their own life story.

The first track, “You Know What” begins with an incredibly upbeat hook, paired with vocals from Godfrey that are similar to the hopeful and longing sounds from pop-punk artists in the early 2010s. The quick rhythms and choruses are attention-grabbers in both their volume and structure. The track is then followed up by “I Need Ya,” which has an invigorating music video of Godfrey racing around the grasslands of Dublin. The track goes hand-in-hand with its predecessor as something that evokes nostalgia and a longing for the adrenaline of youth, which, when considering Godfrey’s desire to chronicle his upbringing, is rather fitting for the beginning of the album.

A handful of the following tracks, like “Hold Me Like You Wanna,” “Broken Record” and “Give It Up To Love,” favor more mellow, yet still rather fast melodies that provide Godfrey’s vocals ample stage to convey his meaning more clearly. More specifically, “Hold Me Like You Wanna” allows Godfrey the space to perform lyrics like, “And you tried your best, and you don’t succeed, and you goddamn risked it all / And you don’t know why and you don’t know when / Just hold me like you wanna,” without the backing instrumentals overpowering his emotions. “Give It Up To Love,” on the other hand, notably begins with a simple guitar solo, but is, again, second-in-command to Godfrey’s lyrics: “Washing up to sea / And I learned from my mother / To treat others equally.” This part of the album perhaps is the most emblematic in Godfrey’s quest to apply a creative energy to the summation of his upbringing, as his lyrics are both filled with a unique sense of longing and retrospective.

A common aspect of the album’s tracks is the implementation of a percussive line that is always there, no matter what the emotion of the track is. The same can be said for the guitar, whose chords can vary from a very upbeat and optimistic sound and timbre to one of longing and thoughtfulness. For example, “How Long?” is very linear in its melody and structure of moving parts, yet maintains a melancholy atmosphere throughout. At times, though, the instrumentals make note of shifts in lyricism, becoming more complicated during choruses with repeated lyrics and increasing tempos, and backing away when the opposite happens. 

The standout track of the album is “Jungle,” which was originally released as a single in 2019. “Jungle” begins with a captivating guitar melody that does well in complementing Godfrey’s singing voice. The track also breaks into a previously-unseen unique percussive melody towards its end, with more instruments joining the drumset for a moment in the spotlight. Its lyrics are, again, implemented thoughtfully as its chorus (“Live the life that we want to, yeah / Settle down in the jungle”) focuses on harmonizing with the backing instrumentals rather than standing out as an individual entity. 

The final track of Somebody’s Child, “We Could Start a War,” follows this as a close second, closely mimicking the “Jungle” methodology. However, in a fashion that stays true to Godfrey’s creative skills, “We Could Start a War” is more of an embodiment of all the common elements of the prior tracks blended into a personalized sendoff.