Adrian Crowley review: Deep in the Leonard Cohen zone

Working with Thomas Bartlett (Doveman, The Gloaming), Adrian Crowley's eighth album stands apart from his previous work. Recorded over four days, Dark Eyed Messenger is a collection of atmospheric mood pieces, Crowley's baritone supported by Bartlett's piano and a host of distorted noises, lonely strings and pulse-like beats.

It's the Galway native's closest approximation of a Leonard Cohen album; the music a sparse, unshowy vehicle for the studied lyrics. At his most compelling, Crowley's gift for storytelling casts a magnetic spell: a runaway's letter of apology on the sublime Halfway to Andalucia, the cutting metamorphosis of Silver Birch Tree and the vivid memory-puzzle captured in The Photographs.

An icy facade pervades much of the material, cooling Crowley's warm timbre and making Dark Eyed Messenger a curiously stoical affair. adriancrowley.com