The lot of the lone troubadour hasn’t been easy of late – indeed there are times when the singer-songwriter has looked like a threatened species in the face of heavy competition from teen crooners and r’n’b wannabees!

However, a new wave of homegrown talent has emerged in recent years – Dubliner Niall Thomas is one such sensitive soul with a tale or two to tell. With an engaging vocal style, not unlike that of Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy (with echoes at times of Tim Buckley and Canadian legend Gordon Lightfoot), his songs are in the main melancholic and moving, with more shade than light; although ‘Spillin’ Diamonds’, a recent single, is an exception. A jaunty shuffle, with a country fiddle, it comes across like something from The Band’s Basement Tapes. The Dylan-esque title-track is another tune rooted in classic Americana, while ‘Handle It’ could be a Crosby, Stills & Nash outtake. Lyrically, he gets uncomfortably personal at times; ‘Hit And Run’ is a fairly bitter chronicle of a doomed love affair, while there’s isn’t a lot to be cheerful about on ‘Down This Road Before’ (“we both know what’s in store”). Elsewhere, ‘Chasing Rainbows’ offers some solace (“I can’t wait to see the end of this road”), while the album ends on a more hopeful note with ‘Be Good, Be True, Be Kind’
Beautifully produced by Karl Odlum and mastered at Abbey Road, it’s a fine sounding record.

Key Track: ‘Spillin’ Diamonds’