Beauty Never Seen

An album that opens with such an overworked cliché as “chance could be a fine thing” was never going to herald a feast of original thinking. Instead we get workmanlike run-throughs of decent songs efficiently played and toughened by a solid beat, but with a lack of adventure that the contributions of Ronnie Drew, Liam O Maonlai and Mary Coughlan cannot redress. Musicians of the calibre of Conor Brady on guitar give the album a professional sheen, and Niall Austin’s songs are certainly thoughtful, but there’s a dated pall hanging around it all.
Claudia Boyle’s vocals are appealing, especially on ‘Causing Cars To Crash’ and ‘With The Saddest Eyes’, while her violinist sister Natalie is underused and/or undermixed. ‘Before Starlight’ makes a welcome shift from the predictable, the haunting ‘Recreate’ seems to want to soar free from the formula, and Ronnie’s spoken vocal on ‘Longing’ is winningly evocative, but these moments are too few and too late.