Eleanor McEvoy – The Thomas Moore Project album review: Highly evocative collection

Reimagining Thomas Moore, the 19th century poet, songwriter and singer whose Irish Melodies are embedded in folk memory, is the task that Eleanor McEvoy has set herself.

Cleaving to Frank Harte’s adage that if you want to know what happened, read the history books; if you want to know how it felt, listen to the songs, McEvoy unpicks Moore’s exceptionally textured lyrical palette and beds it down on alternative arrangements, most of which crystallise the emotional intent with considerable effect.

Spacious arrangements, particularly from Eamon Nolan’s flugelhorn and Eoghan O’Neill’s bass, afford McEvoy plenty of room to delve deep beneath the surface.

Her demilitarisation of The Minstrel Boy, along with the delicacy of At The Mid Hour Of Night are highlights in what is a highly evocative and cohesive collection that may win Moore an entirely new audience. eleanormcevoy.com