Head Above the Water

This is the Galway singer's third album, recorded at the analog Green Door studio in Glasgow with Alasdair Roberts co-producing alongside Power and her husband Peter Broderick, and a band including Roberts and Broderick alongside Brian Mac Gloinn, Stevie Jones and Hamilton Belk. Power has a distinctive and compelling voice, right from the off on the opening ‘On a City Night’ (strongly reminiscent of The Basement Tapes era of Dylan and The Band), and throughout, her vocals are supported by an oozy, flowing and rich soundscape beset by bodhrán, fiddle, and bouzouki, as well as synthesizer, shruti box, drums and electric guitar. The likes of ‘I Was Named After You’ climbs to an audacious percussive crescendo that drives the song heavenwards with her voice while at the time sinking in its own rich and heavy molasses.

Contemporary country flavours mix with traditional British folk, and while the majority of the songs are her own, a clipped, succinct version of ‘The Blacksmith’ leaves its mark, and ‘I Was Named After You’ and the haunting ‘You Have a Quiet Power’ – her reverb-laden voice fills the song-space like baroque ribbons of smoke – are the stand-out cuts on this beguiling and absorbing set.