Hooba Dooba,Proper ****

Apart from a bus pass, age has other compensations. The edge of ambition and the need to succeed take a back seat to more relaxed passions. As he heads towards his 63rd birthday, Paul Brady has never sounded more assured or at peace with his forever conflicting self. There are a few anthems on Hooba Dooba, classically big pop songs such as The Price of Fame(a collaboration with Ronan Keating), but this collection seems more a personal journey – and and not just the way he addresses Alzheimer's in Mother and Son. As Brady says on his revealing blog, "I've arrived at a point where I'm really afraid of no one, and feel the equal of anyone at my game". As such, his own measured production, the song selection, the playing and the pacing strike a balance between the ballad and the boisterous, between the sensitive and the commentary. I'd guess that Brady is very happy with Hooba Dooba– and he's entitled to be. See paulbrady.com

Download tracks: The Winners' Ball, Mother and Son, Money to Burn