The latest releases reviewed
DIRECTOR Reconnect Atlantic ***
Here's a four-piece from Malahide with the archness of The Auteurs and a singer who displays all the panache of a young Bryan Ferry. The song sashays nicely along on a driving beat, and even the CD is a design classic, done up in the label's legendary green-and-orange split.
BLAZE FEATURING BARBARA TUCKER Most Precious Love Defected **
Big beats, big, pumping piano and big diva vocals - it all adds up to one big, classic club anthem. This one got Track of the Year at the House Music Awards, and the party patrol will welcome its re-release with big, open arms.
SNOW PATROL You're All I Have Fiction ***
The Patrol's new album, Eyes Open, is out soon, and here's a sneak peek, a tune that starts off a bit like Chocolate pt 2, but opens out into wider views. We wanna be in Gary's gang - oh, yeah.
ROCKY DEVALERA & THE GRAVEDIGGERS Diceman/Sinne Fianna Fail Blues www.rockydevalera.com ***
The legendary Dublin rockers release a single after 30 years. It's a tribute to the late Thom McGinty, aka the Diceman, backed with a cautionary tale of political shenanigans, plus a bonus track in which our hapless politico gets his comeuppance "as gaeilge". If this had been released in the 1970s, The Boomtown Rats would have been sh***ing bricks.
COLM LYNCH The Storm Universal **
Make a space on the floor for the latest addition to the cross-legged brigade, a cello-and-acoustic guitar drenched mix of Damien, Glen and Richard Ashcroft. There's a storm coming, says Ireland's latest singing, songwriting saviour, and "the meek shall inherit their graves". So wrap up warm, then.
CONOR FURLONG My Truth www.conorfurlong.com **
Sorry, can you move your knee a bit - here comes another cross-legged dude with a plaintive voice, a forlorn guitar and a lonely piano. This four-song EP sets a nicely pensive atmosphere, so Furlong could well gather his own faithful.
FAIRUZA AFX Fairuzamusic **
A five-track EP from the noisy Dublin trio, featuring four so-so tunes which could easily have been whittled down into two excellent ones. Fairuza are launching the EP tonight in Crawdaddys, so get on down.
