Kieran Goss

He's an unlikely figure of rapt attention is Kieran Goss. Looking for all the world like Uncle Fester's cute little brother, Goss doesn't have the smouldering presence of, say, Lloyd Cole, or the agreeable dishevelment of someone like Andy White. The weapons of his choice by which to attack and overcome an audience are a bunch of extremely good folk/country ballads and an instinctive if light comic touch. There is nothing acerbic about either form of assault, however, and if there is a specific flaw in his material it is that it has no undercurrent of unease.

Listeners can choose to ignore this - as the entire audience did last Friday evening - and cruise instead on a sea of eminently enjoyable easy listening. Despite a lack of hard edge, Goss expertly crafts carefully-wrought songs detailing the travails of emotional loss and celebration. New songs, such as Fire From The Flame, Reasons To Leave, and Hand Upon My Heart only strengthen his hold on this particular territory.

Another major strength is the way he plays with audience expectations. For someone used to the usual singer/acoustic guitar format, his between-song patter defies the norm. Goss is clever enough to balance the pathos of the material with liberal sprinklings of intuitive jokey asides and stories, often in a self-deprecating manner. Altogether, an engaging, if rather cosy gig.