Best known as the frontman of the Dublin buskers-turned-headliners The Riptide Movement, Malachy Tuohy shaped his solo debut during the Covid lockdowns, so it will come as no surprise that the pandemic casts a reflective, maudlin pall over these 10 songs. Occasionally that mournful tone pays dividends: a poignant tribute to his late uncle requires a steady, solemn approach, and Jarlath (featuring backing vocals by Moya Brennan) is one of the better songs here.

All too often, however, Tuohy’s reliance on sombre piano balladry is his undoing. The title track, which references the theory of parallel universes and finding your loved one against the odds, doesn’t really go anywhere. Hope and Tonight are love songs with heavy-handed, hackneyed lyrics (“I know it’s not easy, but hope is worth fighting for, no matter what they say”).

The stream-of-consciousness score-settling of Most of the Time, a tongue-in-cheek riposte to the hangers-on who only want to know you when “you’re on top of the charts”, comes off as throwaway. The upbeat, guitar-led Lemonade is a big improvement; both it and Rainy Boy Sleep, a tribute to the late Donegal musician Stevie Martin, suggest that Tuohy has been listening to a lot of Springsteen.

There is an admirable sentiment behind this record, and it’s a joy to hear Tuohy sing in his own accent. Even so, the insular nature of these songs, written without bandmates to bounce off, makes for an album that sounds both preoccupied and out of its depth.