R&B

Siobhán Longon Mary Coughlan's new album

MARY COUGHLAN

The House of Ill Repute

Rubyworks

***

Her recent personal life may have on a rollercoaster, but Mary Coughlan has done what any artist worth her salt would do with the experience: mine its depths for the merest hint of emotional release.

Coughlan's wrath pervades The Whore of Babylon, and an overwhelming emotional neediness threatens to engulf Antarctica. She wisely lowers the temperature of her ire on I Made My Bed- the first hint of Coughlan telling it like it is without spitting venom at her listeners.

The deep, dark blues of Mary, Mary offer a refreshingly quiet meditation on grief, but her over-reliance on cabaret turns is too heavy-handed to withstand repeated exposure. Coughlan rails and rages with more vinegar than vim in this patchwork collection.

www.marycoughlan.com

SIOBHÁN LONG

Download tracks: Bad, I Made My Bed