The latest releases reviewed
CARA DILLON After the Morning Rough Trade ****
Cara Dillon is a singer-songwriter who's taken her own sweet time to unearth her voice, and, three albums on, she's produced a calling card that's unmistakeably her own. With six originals (co-written with Sam Lakeman), Dillon manages to burrow beneath the skin of both old and new material with an enviable authority. Guest vocals from Paul Brady on The Streets of Derry bring out the best in both singers, their beautifully twisted vowels cajoling the story into existence. Walls is the only dud note, overburdened with sentimentality and earnestness. Members of the Czech Philharmonic lend unintrusive strings, and even if Mairtín O'Connor's accordion seems somewhat underused on Bold Jamie, After the Morning still propels Dillon onto another plain where that voice has finally come home. - Siobhán Long
