Mick Flannery: The House Must Win (One Riot Records) ★★★☆☆
The Cork songwriter Mick Flannery doesn’t do things by halves. This double album features rejuvenated tracks from Evening Train, his 2005 LP, as well as 10 originals (all of which feature in Flannery’s gritty musical, also called The House Must Win). The music ranges from gentle ballads (Talk to Me, Rising Tide, When I’ve Got a Dollar, Grace’s Waltz) and full-bodied musical theatre (Take It on the Chin, Tripping O’er His Trousers) to implausible rock (Daddy, the title track, Ride On). Exceptional guest vocalists (including Lisa Hannigan, Jenn Grant, Anaïs Mitchell, Jeffrey Martin, Yvonne Daly, Marybeth O’Mahony and Susan O’Neill) keep it from losing its way.
Goodtime John: Good as Gold (Stéille) ★★★★★
The Sweden-based Dubliner John Cowhie might well be underappreciated in Ireland, but his new album has enough sonic sparkle to change that. The energy of the songs might not be obvious on first listen, but low-key earworms such as Crystallize, Stone, Heavy and Dreams May Fade could genuinely be superlative shoegaze songs delivered by Beck or Cass McCombs. The album is dedicated to Cowhie’s long-time friend Glenn Keating, the Irish musician, who died earlier this year.
Tony St Ledger: Man on a Bridge (Instant Polaroid Records) ★★★★☆
Tony St Ledger, who has shared stages with early U2-connected bands such as Myster Men and Blue Russia, is a classic case of could have and should have but somehow didn’t. More recently a member of Trouble Pilgrims, he has made the kind of debut solo album you might expect from a musician with roots in the tougher edges of postpunk. The Old Town inhabits a gritty pub where Robert Forster of The Go-Betweens and Peter Perrett of The Only Ones share a drink and war stories. Everybody’s Hurting is underscored by an unsettling Kraftwerk-like sensibility, while the tender, glistening Shine looks towards a more optimistic future.
Mac Giolla Ghunna: Mac Giolla Ghunna (self-released) ★★★☆☆
Pól Mac Giolla Ghunna certainly knows how to make an impact. The multimedia artist and composer’s new album pulls no punches: its 10 instrumental tracks fuse spiralling beats and left-of-centre melodies with rasping no-wave sensibilities, delicate minimalism and vocal sounds extracted from Irish folk traditions. Worked on over several years between urban Dublin and rural Sligo, the album (which Mac Giolla Ghunna defines as otherworldly) exists on its own terms, with no obligation to conform. The music may not be for everyone, but anyone with a preference for strangeness and charm should investigate.
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Molly O’Mahony: Waiting on the World (Mine House Records) ★★★★☆
Thematically linked to The House of David, her 2022 album (which was written during lockdown), Molly O’Mahony’s Waiting on the World investigates a post-Covid background of strength, anxiety and relationships. O’Mahony, who compares the album to skidding on the knife-edge between optimism and gloom, is a robust, candid and literate songwriter with a clear voice that pushes lyrics to the forefront. Songs such as the title track, How Bright the Bird, Cherish You and Blue-Eyed Girl present hard truths enhanced by striking melodies and multilayered arrangements.
