The Waltz Of The Years

If Eamon Friel hadn’t been arm-twisted into composing musical numbers for the Christmas show at the London school where he taught English back in the 1970s, we might not have this lovely album.

Happily, the Derry-based singer/guitarist discovered his métier and had a successful career writing satirical and topical songs for the BBC before branching out into more serious material.

With the exception of a gas little ditty called ‘My Brother’s Turned Into A Yank’, the songs on his fourth solo album are unabashedly romantic: it would take a hard-hearted soul to listen to it all the way through without at least one of them sending an unexpected tear into the corner of an eye, whether it be the nostalgic title track, the magically atmospheric ‘Leaving It So’, or opening track ‘Arrow And Heart’ - a meditation on the discovery of a tribute to young love written in sand on a Donegal beach.