The title of Megan O'Neill's second album suggests a newfound willingness to
embrace change – something the Kildare native has seen a lot of over the past few years. After studying psychology at University College Dublin, she instead pursued her musical dream by moving to Nashville and later London, working with various bands, songwriters and producers.

The follow-up to 2018’s Ghost of You sounds more sure-footed, despite O’Neill’s state of emotional and geographical flux. These are well-produced and finely crafted songs, most of them with a country-pop swagger – best heard on the bluesy Should’ve Known Better, the dramatic sweep of Underrated and solid radio-friendly duet Break Hearts.

O’Neill shifts from a state of vulnerability to one of defiance, but songs like her love letters to her home country (Ireland) and her adopted home (London City) tread a thin line between sweetness and schmaltz. She pulls it back around on Strangers Before We Met, a comparatively simple number amid the big poppy productions, where her impressive voice sounds like almost a swarthier Alison Krauss. Her tender cover of Jim Croce’s Time in a Bottle is another highlight and has already been picked up by Netflix, who used it on the recent series Firefly Lane.

Given time, you wouldn’t bet against O’Neill’s music finding a bigger international audience.