Mark Geary is an Irish singer/songwriter who learned his trade in New York in the 90s, and while this new album is only his second release, it's a striking and assured collection that's full of excellent songwriting. Produced by the same team that worked on Josh Ritter's 'Hello Starling', 'Ghosts' covers similar natural and organic sounding sonic ground where
quiet acoustic and electric guitars sit alongside a variety of keyboards, all topped off by sweet melodies.
The pace for the album is set by the opening track 'Beautiful', it's sparsely presented but with strong vocals and an excellent melody, and this song starts off a chain of 6 tracks that includes the highlight 'Ghosts' (with Ritter on vocals) that make up a memorable sequence covering a broad range of styles that all showcase Geary's writing skills.
While the link to Ritter is obvious, his writing and delivery is closer to Ron Sexsmith and he has the same accessibility and immediacy that makes this material appealing to a wide range of people. 'Ghosts' is an accomplished collection of 11 songs (plus 1 uncredited track), it's considered and intense affair, but one which rewards the listener on many levels. Highly
recommended.

£13.49