Finbar Wright: Another Season (Sony Music)

Finbar Wright certainly deserves a "A" for taking risks. Okay, no real surprises in choices such as O Sole Mio, I'll Walk With God and The Loveliest Night of the Year, though the latter is tastefully understated, accompanied mostly by just an acoustic guitar. Indeed, the production work throughout, by Peter Van Hooke, is tastefully restrained, giving Wright's voice room to breathe. And soar. But really surprising is the inclusion of Jimmy McCarthy songs such as The Contender, which focuses on the downward spiral of an alcoholic - hardly MOR material, even if Finbar does tends to coast over the lyric. Much better is his interpretation of his own slightly acerbic song Freedom and, most surprising of all, Black Wind, a "tribute" to Veronica Guerin. More to Wright than you thought? Seems so.