The follow-up to his acclaimed Ten of Swords solo debut, World On A Wire sees the prodigiously talented Dubliner in a much more sombre mood. With piano and strings predominating, the jangly guitar pop has been largely replaced by a much more reflective, introspective sonic approach. In fact the starkness and barely-repressed anger pervading songs such as ‘It Isn’t Always Easy’, ‘No Time At All’ and ‘Love Over Gold’ makes you wonder what kind of traumatic events might have inspired them (even the record company press release states bluntly that “this is not for the fainthearted”). That said it’s not as downbeat as it might sound and fans of Cohen, Buckley, Cave and Cash should find plenty of resonance on this brave artistic statement.

His songwriting style and ragged voice has been compared in the past to everyone from Dylan to Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy, but Joe Strummer and Mott The Hoople’s Ian Hunter spring more readily to mind here. Throughout World On A Wire Carroll refreshingly celebrates rather than conceals his influences; ‘God’s Wit’ cleverly re-works the guitar intros from the Beatles’ ‘If I Needed Someone’ and the Monkees’ ‘Last Train To Clarkesville’ into a gorgeously realised folk song, ‘In Agreement With Reality’ boasts a ‘Knocking On Heaven’s Door’ choir-like intro while ‘Till These Bars Break’ is underpinned by On The Beach-era Neil Young-style acoustic picking.

‘Talk Again’ is the nearest thing to an upbeat pop-song, though Carroll’s lyrics again contrast sharply with the backdrop: “I’m lost, done in and I’m low so low, I can’t find thoughts for today or face tomorrow.”
Heavy going it might be at times, but a little perseverance slowly but surely reaps its rewards.