The Glove Thief

Carly Sings has a lovely, distinct, smooth, alto voice, which is a relief. Because otherwise I would have begun this review with Carly Sings... badly. But in fact Carly sings very well indeed. And she’s also a very good writer and arranger. In fact, if this was a report card, her parents would be happy and I’d be giving out As and Bs left, right and centre. But it’s not a report card, it’s a record review and on this record she’s accompanied by beautiful arpeggiated acoustic picking, shimmering electric guitars, moogs, organs, strings and occasional bossa-nova rhythms, and it’s all gorgeously produced by Steven Shannon. At times it reminds me a bit of Charlotte Gainsbourg and even Carla Bruni in its confidence and idiosyncrasy. Indeed, together with such singers, she seems to have developed a new form of hard-edged, tough-centred easy listening. The only downside to The Glove Thief is that at times its creator is a tad over ambitious with the lyrics. Now, this appeals to me much more than being under-ambitious, which is a crime most songwriters are guilty of. On some tracks, like ‘George Emerson’, Carly’s bookishness and whimsy is worn lightly and falls on the right side of charming, but there are also a few songs where the lyrical ideas run away with themselves (‘Mushroom In My Hard-Drive’ being the worst culprit). But really that’s just a minor gripe, because Carly writes songs that are about things. This is a melodic masterpiece with considered arrangements and subject matter, and I reckon it’s the debut of an important new Irish singer.

Key Track: ‘The Only Human Left'