Cian Nugent & the Cosmos: Born with the Caul

Virtuoso acoustic guitarist Cian Nugent returns with a new band and one more track – three in total – than on his last album, Doubles. The relatively brief (at six minutes) opener, Grass Above My Head, begins with Nugent's guitar picking out a plaintive melody, but halfway through the song morphs into a jaunty dance number, with parping horns and sawing violin.

The further into the record you go, however, the more its dark heart is revealed. Nugent's roots are in avant- garde folk but his debt to Television is revealed in the serpentine, cyclical guitar figures of Double Horse. On this track and the 23-minute odyssey The Houses Of Parliament, Nugent's command of mood and tension and his mastery of his instrument, are a marvel. Three tracks in 46 minutes may sound like a trial, but they are transfixing. ciannugent.bandcamp.com
Download: Double Horse