Maria Kelly’s 2021 debut, The Sum Of The In-Between, was a critically-acclaimed streaming hit, which documented the Irish artist’s mental health journey through intimate alt-folk songs.

Recorded between Start Together Studio in Belfast and Black Mountain Studios in Dundalk, the title of Kelly’s new LP was inspired by the long hours she spent in sterile clinic waiting rooms, hoping for answers to the chronic pain from which she was suffering. More broadly, the songs address the liminal places in which the singer has existed throughout her life.

On the contemplative ‘Nearly Thirty’, Kelly wrestles with having too much “time to kill”, as she stares down personal and professional uncertainty, against the backdrop of her 30th birthday. On ‘His Parent’s House’, she conjures up the quiet tragedy of Ireland’s housing crisis, as she imagines explaining her living situation in conversation with a friend: “We’ve got a nice space / At his parent’s house.”

Similar to Maria’s debut, the songs are defined by the poised, inimitable tenderness of her voice, though she also strikes out into new terrain. ‘Drive’ proves powerfully anthemic, while ‘Something Better’ is a gorgeous alt-pop reflection on the demands we place on ourselves.

Out now

8/10