Damien O’Kane – Avenging & Bright review

But Avenging & Bright, its words taken from the 19th-century Irish poet Thomas Moore, brings a low-key, shimmering intensity to proceedings that takes it into a different league.

There are tunes here (Boston City, January Man), which bring out goosebumps, O’Kane’s beautifully low-key delivery tracing quietly melodic patterns across a lush network of everything from keyboards, guitar and banjo to, according to the sleeve note, a toaster and Pyrex dish!

A duet with his wife, the terrific folk singer Kate Rusby, on her own composition Lately, adds a superb final touch.