The Magpie

Garret Baker & the Random Nouns’ third album is a bit of brooding beast. Boasting songs that reflect on the darker side of life (“Let us find a girl who is unhinged/You are in Dublin now and there’s no way out” he warns on the sublime second song ‘The Heathen’s Hark’), the 13-track opus is an arresting, alt. folk-tinged affair full of Baker’s broken melodies which are backed by a battered acoustic guitar. ‘After The Blizzard’, which features some ethereal vocals courtesy of Carol Anne McGowan, and the piano-led ‘The Daughter Of A Killer’ are standouts. Overall a strong release that is by turns grim and glorious, above all it is impressively different.