In his hometown of Dublin, Damien Dempsey is a household name. He has a reputation of being a man of the people. Singing ballads and protests songs for the working class Dempsey is often considered Ireland’s answer to Billy Bragg or Bob Dylan.
After a four-year hiatus, the singer has released his sixth album, Almighty Love.
The power of Dempsey’s songs has always been in the songwriting rather than the music.
In the months prior to the album’s release he put out an article on his website discussing his struggles with depression and writers block and at times throughout the album you can sense this.
Almighty Love is adult contemporary music at its best and covers a lot of different genres. There are reggae moments, folk, rock and even a rap section by guest singer Kate Tempest “Born Without Hate”.
The standout track however is the albums anthemic title track.
It’s an uplifting and inspiring, if a little formulaic, song that shows off Dempsey’s strong and commanding voice and reflects his return from the dark period he experienced between albums.
At times it feels like the album’s lyrics haven’t been completely developed with clunky lines such as “In bad men you’ll invest, you charge big interest” coming across a little too obvious in “Moneyman”.
At other times Dempsey really reveals his vulnerable and poetic side, like when he opens up in “Chris and Steve”, a song about two childhood friends lost to suicide.
Almighty Love is an album that will appeal more to the Irish at heart. Listeners that are already fans of Damien Dempsey will enjoy this latest release but it is doubtful that this album will inspire many new listeners.
