David Keenan's highly anticipated debut album, A Beginner's Guide To Bravery, has been released today, January 10, to critical acclaim both at home and overseas.

Springing to national attention after a video of him performing ‘El Paso’ in a Dundalk taxi went viral, Keenan has revitalised the Irish singer-songwriter scene by refusing to box his sound into any easy categorisation. From these humble roots to a Stateside tour, 2019 proved to be a landmark year for the Dundalk native, with his deeply authentic approach to his craft earning him comparisons to legends like Leonard Cohen and Jeff Buckley. Now, with the release of his debut album and a Olympia Theatre headliner on January 13, Keenan is set to make his mark on the world – evidenced by the glowing international reviews of A Beginner's Guide To Bravery.

The Guardian's Michael Hann compares Keenan's approach to the "epic sweep of Van Morrison, the high notes of Tim Buckley, and the soul of Samuel Beckett."

Dan Cairns of the Sunday Times Culture calls him a "remarkable talent. Takes the baton from Van Morrison, Bob Dylan, early Bruce Springsteen and Mike Scott, and runs with it. Thrilling.”

"Infused with the soul of the great Irish writers and such visionary boho barroom bards as Waits, Morrison, Burroughs or Bukowski," wrote Mike Davis for UK-based Folk Radio, "it's surely unlike any other album you'll hear this year, the breathtaking arrival of a luminous talent."

A Beginner's Guide To Bravery has also been featured Stateside as one of NPR All Songs Considered's 'New Music Friday: Our Top 7 Albums Out On Jan. 10'.

In Germany, meanwhile, its been named NDR's 'Album Of The Week' – with Ralf Dorschel describing the project as "an astonishing debut by an astonishing narrator."

Keep an eye on Hotpress.com today for Pat Carty's track-by-track review of A Beginner's Guide To Bravery, and read our in-depth interview with Keenan in the next issue of Hot Press.

Stream A Beginner's Guide To Bravery below:

https://open.spotify.com/album/5zo0VhHzIPJJMEdhiV3DLo