Valley of the Heart

For some years now, Galway singer Sean Keane has been straddling the fence between traditional and contemporary material. The two have often made for uneasy neighbours, but with his latest recording Valley of the Heart, he seems to have finally cracked the combination. It’s hard to pinpoint what’s changed, exactly – perhaps just an extra layer of confidence in his own inimitable singing style. Whatever, the songs here hang together beautifully, with stellar contributors coming from writers as disparate as country star Guy Clarke, bluegrass artist Tim O’Brien, Canadian Bruce Cockburn, and Ireland’s Brendan Graham and John Spillane. One of Keane’s most accomplished outings to date.