The latest folk CD reviewed

CHRISTY MOORE

Listen Sony Music★★★★

There's an intimacy you can touch on Christy Moore's first CD in four years. Pitch-perfect arrangements from Declan Sinnott and gorgeously spare cello from Neil Martin help put Christy in a reflective mood. Hank Wedell's title track lures the listener in as confidant, but it's Moore's startling cover of Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamondthat hints at a renewed vigour in his musical spirit. Two of his own songs shimmer in the heat as well : Riding the High Stoolis a salutary lesson in the perils of liquor-laced philosophy, and The Ballad of Ruby Walshallows Moore to reference everyone from Philip Treacy to silk-cossetted jockeys. Sinnott strikes a dud note with his solo rendition of I Will, and Christy's tribute to Rory Gallagher creaks beneath the weight of its bastard folk/blues canopy. www.christy moore.com

Download tracks: China Waltz. Gortatagort folk

SIOBHAN LONG