Diggin’ the Idleflower, the brand new sophomore release from celebrated Irish singer/songwriter Colm Gavin documents the creative musings of an artist at the height of his powers. This harmonically sophisticated offering merges influences as disparate as Randy Newman & Clifford T Ward to Cole Porter and Jerome Kern. Songs like “Katie Macaroni” & “It’s starting to feel like love” boast string and woodwind arrangements echoing Gavin’s affection for 19th-century composers like Gustav Mahler and Ralph Vaughan Williams while at the same packing a guttural, verbal punch with lines like “Did no one ever wonder about the blunders you’ve shouldered? Tear drops in the penny arcade”. Long known for his flair for the written and spoken word (as showcased in his 2014 collection of poetry “An exchange with Goliath”), Colm uses this record to pull the curtain back on his compositional skills, with many of the songs matching the modular sensibilities of the writings of a young Paul Simon or Paul McCartney. He of course has not lost his intangible gift of penning tunes for the everyman. The bluesy cradle song “Song for Sam” or gospel plough uplift of “Someday, Puddin’, Someday!” prove this to be self evident. The albums lead single “What’s it like in LA?” brings Gavin to the fore in shuffle and toe tapping splendour, demonstrating with tremendous effect why his songwriting abilities have been celebrated by audiences and critics alike the world over. Appearing on shelves everywhere January 26th, this melodic bouquet is an offering that deserves pride of place in any contemporary music lovers catalogue.