Ken Cotter - Anatomy Of A Goddess

Cotter’s third album, his first since 2005’s Agent Orange, is an ambitious collection of songs featuring a cast of renowned Irish musicians, including sometime Ray Davies sideman Bill Shanley. Inspired by James Joyce’s Ulysses, the songs blend folk and jazz, with indie guitar textures and Cotter’s meandering melodies, angelic vocals and mystical lyrics soaring above it all.

The arrangements certainly are elaborate and on a grand scale: the slow-burning ‘Dublin’ starts out low-key, building into a brassy crescendo. Lush strings backdrop ‘Danced All Morning Long’ while ‘Radio Ulysses’ features what sounds like recordings of crackling, medium-wave radio stations. ‘Nighttown’ boasts prog-rock leanings, recalling the atmosphere of Van’s jazzy ‘Moondance’ and ‘NWXW’ floats on some nifty piano tinkling. Other highlights include the quirky ‘Small Craft Warning’ and the propulsive, mid-tempo ‘Light Up The Room’.