Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating *****

There is no other way to describe the Irish singer Damien Dempsey than incredibly imposing in his natural gift of poetic words that shine like a beacon across from Dublin Bay and point out the injustice that still pervades across both countries that straddle the Irish Sea and imposing in his stature and honesty.

It is this talent, this raw, unflinching and thankfully untameable man that brings the songs of his life, that of the still forgotten people of that part of Ireland and the growing number of disposed and disenfranchised people beyond it which makes his new album, Almighty Love, such a remarkable and perfect statement.

Almighty Love is an album full of love and the elements of despair that haunt and stalk a person’s life almost hand in hand. Right from the beginning, every song sits comfortably within its space.  The framework and music play off one another so well that the other musicians on the album, such as John Reynolds, Julian Wilson and Clare Kenny don’t just appear as extras they become the music, the extra little something that makes this album stand out.

It really is an album where every song stands out, from the bitter laments to the fiery passionate, from the slightly whimsical to the forthright and honest. Songs such as the haunting Chris and Steve, the driving lesson of hope in Born Without Hate and the rampaging anger that fires all the way through Moneymen are nothing short of excellent. This is not just an album; this is quite simply, life.

There will probably never be such a thing as the musical laureate of Ireland and there will be other very important musicians that come out of that romantic and yet sometimes spontaneous land that would be nominated ahead of Damien Dempsey. However if there is any justice; any type of popular concusses opinion taken on both sides of a sea that separates physically but no longer mentally, then Damien Dempsey would be the crowning and obvious choice.

Ian D. Hall