Back Smiling Again

This, fact fans, is Kieran Halpin’s 14th album. That he has been so prolific without any major label support, and a spell in contractual wasteland, is a credit to his commitment as a wandering troubadour.

For this album he is joined by Fairport Conventioneer Martin Allcock on bass and electric guitar, and the ensemble playing is predictably competent throughout.

Halpin has an assured touch with a tune, although his commitment to rhyming couplets sometimes makes for monotony. His subject matter here ranges over many topics, including good, bad and ugly relationships, and our personal indifference to a catalogue of tragedies from Omagh to Auschwitz in ‘Where Were You?’. The excellent ‘Back Smiling Again’ celebrates the noble art of keepin’ on keepin’ on in the face of adversity.

On tracks like ‘Making Up The Miles’ Halpin’s well-gargled voice steers close to Finbar Furey. But on ‘It’s All For Love’ he shows how attractively expressive his vocal can be when he eases off the throttle.

Having chastised him before for being mired in the past, I must confess that this effort has a more contemporary brightness shining through much of it. Could very well bring a smile to your face.