A New Season For Love

For his second album, Cormac O Caoimh has linked with his former Citadels playmates Art O Laoire (keyboards) and Eoghan Regan (electric guitar). They provide a sparse backing that doesn’t intrude on O Caoimh’s assured finger-picking, while his hushed vocals evoke fellow-Corkonians John Spillane and Ger Wolfe. There’s a warm gentility running through tracks like ‘There’s Gold There Somewhere’ and the Spanish-inflected ‘Counting The Raindrops’. The title track and ‘Herculean Sky’ have a jazz-lite jauntiness, ‘Head On’ features tasty keyboards and ‘100,000’ moves towards Jamie Cullum territory. O Caoimh’s lyrics are mature and intelligent, and the album’s natural feel gives it a worthy intimacy. But the vocals crave a harmony or two that never happen.