From Ireland’s rugged West Coast, Loner Deluxe, the stage name of Rusted Rail boss Keith Wallace, purveys celestial and colourful electronic-based compositions on his newest offering “Living Room”. As the title suggests there is a homey feel to proceedings, with Wallace crafting cosy, non-threatening, and winsome tracks that sound as though they’ve been pored over for hours, days, weeks etc, every detail and element exactly where it belongs with little in the way of fluff; a streamlined collection that, despite being perennially amiable to the ear, doesn’t restrict itself from flirting with high-octane ambitions (such as on “No Dollars But Sense”, the synthwork of which distorts on its upward trajectory, or the more rocking rhythms of “Sixpack In The Snow”, which see acoustic instrumentation fold into the fray, a folktronica affair that isn’t a million miles from the instrumentation of Odelay-era Beck.)

Indeed, for all the emotionality of songs such as “Black Candles” (which features the fretless bass stylings of Irish underground stalwart Dave Colohan) and “Styrofoam Dolmen” (which, like other tracks on this album, is blessed by the angelic voice of collaborator Cecilia Dannel), there is a strong focus on rhythm, beats and propulsion. Wallace’s idling melodic arrangements are all the better for it, given a solid track upon which to freely explore the sonic territory it is so open to exploring. Dannel is also credited as the creator of the album’s cover art, which sees the artist playing acoustic guitar in the same living room the album was recorded in, a psychedelically lit snug brimful of cultural artefacts (books, DVDs, records, CDs, even a ram’s skull can be spotted on the decoratively intense walls).

Like the gemütlich atmosphere of the cover art, these songs welcome the listener into their nest; as Loner Deluxe puts it, they are “a small dose of music as psychic defence in these trying times.”

★★★★