Luke Sital-Singh

Time Is A Riddle RAYGUN/RED ESSENTIAL. CD/DL/LP

Intense pop/rock in the manner of David Gray.

A selfconfessed ‘grumpy git’, Sital-Singh worries that his debut, three years ago, was compromised by the major label and big production. This time everything’s on his terms, which lean more toward the handmade, crafted variety; whittled-down singersongwriter intimacy, and recorded in remote Donegal with local musicians. It pays off. Opener Still is majestic, measured dark grunge, not far from Neil Young’s After The Gold Rush. Oh My God is boisterously in love: “Oh my God, is your heart racing?/Oh my God I won’t stop chasing you.” Elsewhere, there’s a heartfelt, almost strangulated Damien Rice/Tom Odell passion – gritty, raging but hopeful. The triumphant Cynic is a kind of lullaby for his new wife: “I am a cynic, it is my sin/Never let anyone close/My stony heart is melting, my love, my love, my love…” Occasionally heavy, always affecting.