Waiting For The Madness To End will no doubt be lapped up by the legions of Aslan fans that recently ensured the band sold-out multiple nights at Vicar St. But their apparent charms seem to escape the rest of us. Is it that they’ve been around so long and we’re wondering just why they haven’t gone stellar? Or does the fact that they haven’t made it huge mean that they’re not very good? And why do they bother anymore? All these questions…

There’s nothing about the new album that makes it unworthy of your attention. Unfortunately there’s little here that makes it particularly interesting either. The lyrics in places read like juvenile poetry. The chorus of opening track ‘Friend’ doesn’t bode well for the rest of the album – “I used to think you were my friend, I may not talk to you again, it’s sad to think that it’s the end.”

And the music is fairly bog-standard guitar-rock and keyboards that just plods along – never really grabbing you or shaking you out of your daily routine. Recent single ‘Different Man’ is just about the best track here

with a poppy sing-a-long chorus that does lodge itself somewhere in the nearer subconscious. But tracks like ‘Comfort Me’ – an insipid, low energy, weight of a song – do nothing to redeem the blandness of the album as a whole.

Sinéad O’Connor appears on the other single ‘She’s So Beautiful’ and on the track ‘Up In Arms’, a piano led ballad detailing and in some ways defying the breakdown in a relationship – a lyrical theme returned to often. But even her contributions fail to spice things up.