ALBUM WEEK OF THE

Dermot Kennedy Sonder Island, Out now ★★★★★

Blessed with a thundering voice that would make a symphony orchestra cower, it is a surprise that Dermot Kennedy opens his second album with the virtually a cappella auto-tuned Any Love. Whilst the Rathcoole man doesn’t repeat that minimalist style elsewhere there is a directness and economy in what he does that informs lyrics such ‘any love that ain’t you is a love that ain’t true’. On Something To

Someone he sings ‘once upon a time I meant something to someone’ over a more uptempo soundscape. Kiss Me is equally uplifting and has a killer chorus

you might be singing even before the song ends. Dreamer is slower where he sings of his early days sitting at his piano as a songwriter trying to get

‘the darkness to dance’. On this impressive sophomore effort, with many fine songs Better Days might just be the standout and feels like a hopeful and apposite anthem for these straitened times.