Be Yourself

Former Emotional Fish front-man Ger Whelan aka Jerry Fish has taken an unusual-but-winning route with this project, rounding up a diverse array of local talent (including Damien Rice, Maria Doyle-Kennedy and Bronagh Gallagher) to partake in a quirky, upbeat collection of superbly realised jazz, blues, soul and country numbers.

‘It Don’t Get Much Better Than This’ cruises along on a funky bass-line, and features a beautiful vocal contribution from Kennedy. ‘Bob & God’ is a smouldering, delightfully off-kilter blues curio reminiscent of Tom Waits, whilst the closing ‘Be Yourself’ neatly sums up the album’s optimistic mood with a chipper country tune that could probably have fit on the Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.

But these are just selected highlights. Overall, this is a hugely enjoyable album and a welcome return-to-form from the big Fish.