Ann Scott’s fourth album sees the Dublin chanteuse gathering a host of her friends into the studio and having fun with some of the strongest songs she’s penned since her debut 2002 EP, Pauper Tiger, first announced her as one to watch. Gemma Hayes, Katell Keineg, Karl Odlum and former Frames sticksmith Dave Hingerty are all to be found on Venus To The Sky, alongside Kim Porcelli, once of this parish, on cello.
In broad terms, Scott fits the singer-songerwriter blueprint, in that she writes and performs her own songs, but there’s little of the acoustic troubadour about her infectious brand of lo-fi indie pop. The full band sound suits her well, with Hingerty’s drums in particular adding an immediacy and a welcome clatter and cacophony to tracks like haunting opener ‘Hoopla’ or the deliciously distant ‘Stripes’.
Much of this album sounds otherworldly or ethereal, with cuts like the beautiful ‘Unite’ creeping up on you over repeated listens by an invisible process of osmosis. Indeed, many of the songs inhabit that nether-world between sleep and wakefulness, sneaking their way gradually into your consciousness until you find yourself humming them without realising it, from the simple guitar motif of ‘Joy’ to ‘For The First Time’, a slow ode to love gone wrong (“It don’t feel like it should... but I still have my heart set on you”) or the closing lullaby of ‘Stars’.
‘Solemn’ is possessed of an off-kilter melody and vocal that possibly shouldn’t work but somehow does, Scott’s breathy tones curling around the tune like tendrils of smoke, for a dreamy singalong that’s warm and welcoming.
Matters of the heart take precedence, lyric-wise, from the obvious ‘All About Love’ to ‘Coming Up’, the latter not an ode to ecstacy but a paean to long-term romance (“I’m yours for life”). But the pick of the litter is the delicious indie pop of ‘You To Me’, complete with intricate melody and stop-start vocal.
For the most part, Venus To The Sky isn’t going to grab you on first or even third listen, but live with it for a week or two and you’ll find yourself sucked into its dreamlike embrace.

Key Track: 'You To Me'