Album reviews

TRAD/POP

Damien Dempsey: Union (Sony)

Damien Dempsey never gives less than 100 per cent in his music. The Irish singer-songwriter brings a pugilistic quality to his trad-pop musical hybrid that’s impossible not to admire: he punches hard on every track, and delivers his albums with the commitment of a man who feels that this one could very well be his last. Like the late Johnny Cash, Dempsey’s voice isn’t a perfect instrument ...