Although long regarded as one of Ireland’s more creditable crafters of quality pop songs, Kieran Goss’ recordings have suffered from an overly laid-back, safety-first approach. Not any more. From the very opening of his sixth, Rodney Crowell-produced album there’s no doubt this is a rootsier, gutsier and more liberated Goss than we’ve heard before.
Indeed, ‘Gotta Get To You’ and ‘Blue Sky Sunrise’ reflect an exuberant, almost puckish side of Goss previously not exhibited outside of his often hilarious live shows. There’s an uncharacteristic spookiness to ‘Sacred Ground’ too, while the attractive ‘Like Lovers Do’ benefits from its thoughtful, sparse arrangement. The sturdy ‘Now That I’m Letting Go’ has soaring open-air harmonies to die for, and his duet with Kimmy Rhodes on ‘Why Should I Be Lonely?’ is a real gem full of all the backporch charm we expect from Emmylou.
In ‘Jamaica I’m In Love’ and the piano-based ‘I Don’t Need Your Love’ he settles back to his old familiar groove, and with ‘Clear Day’ even more so, but the first two particularly benefit from the greater range of light and shade that Crowell’s production brings to the party.
At under 40 minutes it’s a bit on the short side, and all 10 tracks have been co-written, with Brendan Murphy, Mickey Harte and Kimmie Rhodes, among others, joining Goss in the credits. Many of the artists who emerged from the Irish folk scene alongside Goss in the eighties have since faded from view. If they want to effect a come-back, they might need to follow his lead and take a risk or two.