Latest CD releases reviewed

KEVIN COSTNER AND MODERN WEST
Untold Truths Universal **

Yes, that Kevin Costner. It would be easy to take a pop at the actor and Oscar-winning director for acting the maggot above and beyond the call of celebrity. At 54, Costner decided to follow his heart and take to the stage of dreams to test the strength of his voice. These 12 songs, some of them co-written by Costner, are country with a heavy rock slant, light on musical invention but bulked out with finely honed production steroids and lyrics at ease with cliche. And Costner is not embarrassed. He might not have the greatest voice, but it is distinctive, and he has surrounded himself with good players and the likes of producers John Coinman and Teddy Morgan. Still, it does strain credibility: the Hollyweird icon as a struggling tunesmith. www.kevincostner modernwest.com

Download tracks: Long Hot Night, Leland, Iowa

KIERAN GOSS
I'll Be Seeing You
Cog Communications ****

Eight albums on and Kieran Goss is in reflective mood. I'll Be Seeing Youis a spare, ruminative collection shot through with the emotional turmoil that's beset his personal life. Death and illness have coloured his experiences in recent years, but Goss has allowed them to filter richly into his songwriting without ever resorting to maudlin self-pity. The album is bookended by two pristine snapshots of life's magical ordinariness ( One Boy's Treasureand the gently anthemic Make the Morning Shine), and there's much evidence that Goss is digging deeper in his songwriting than ever before. At times the bareboned production sounds under-developed, but with such vignettes as Into Your Arms soundinglike the illicit offspring of Townes Van Zandt and George Jones, Goss is clearly on a road to somewhere very interesting. www.kierangoss.com

Download tracks: Make the Morning Shine, Shining Like a Sun

SIZE2SHOES
Size2Shoes CdBaby 4 ****

It’s a long time since I said it or even thought it, but parents can be a hindrance – especially when your parents are as notable as those of Eoin and Mícheál (Moley) Ó Súilleabháin. Mícheál Ó Súilleabháin snr, the pianist and composer, and singer Noirín Ní Riain have left a mark on their offspring but the brothers’ “inspirational acoustic pop music” strays far and wide of their elders. If any Irish reference could be cited for these light, breezy songs, embellished with colourful and inventive soundscapes, it would be Scullion, especially the songs of Sonny Condell. The brothers’ softly insistent guitar playing underpins all tracks, but the colours added by A-listers such as Brendan Power and Noel Eccles, plus the playing of the Carolan String Quartet and dad himself on piano, adds quality to these sometimes twee, always positive tunes of young love and friendship. www.size2shoes.com

Download tracks: Take It Easy, Respect the Man, Mirage