Liam O'Maonlaoi

To Be Touched Rian Records ***:Liam Ó Maonlaí's second solo record in three years demands a certain act of faith from the listener.

It's an improvisational collection anchored by piano, with Ó Maonlaí freewheeling through a pastoral collection that probes and cradles musings on loss, innocence and the stuff that exists in between the cracks of life. On two tracks, Marketa Irglova's backing vocals nestle effortlessly beneath Ó Maonlaí's. Occasionally, though, the experimental teeters on the brink of extinction, particularly with the inclusion of a child's vocalisations on Worry Not. The intimacy leaves the listener feeling like a voyeur, eavesdropping on an incomplete conversation. A lone sean nós song ( Siobhán Ní Dhuibhir) is given a refreshingly loose-limbed treatment, and the Aboriginal Mimi Dreaming Songhints at a journey still in the making. www.liamomaonlaí.ie

Download tracks: Siobhán Ní Dhuibhir, On My Mind