Ruby Sessions

For the past four years, the Ruby Sessions have been a cornerstone of the Dublin live experience. Not only is it a karmically sound way to spend a Tuesday evening (proceeds go to the Simon Community), but it’s widely regarded as the perfect platform for under-exposed, emerging singer-songwriter talent.

You might think that Dublin needs another acoustic-flavoured album on the market like it needs a SARS epidemic, yet this is a joyous mixed bag of intimate-sounding folk, upbeat indie and ’80s fused electronica.

Notable by their absence on this compilation are the usual suspects – Paddy Casey, Gemma Hayes, Damien Rice, Liam O’Maonlai, David Kitt, and Mundy, all of whom have been hardcore sessionistas since the club’s inception.

No doubt their inclusion on the compilation would have stimulated sales, but thankfully the album stays true to the clubs ‘platform’ mandate, giving the album an energy that it wouldn’t otherwise have. Instead, the album is alive with the sounds of little-known artists who are wholly deserving of exposure, and this in turn makes for much more interesting stuff.

Fionn Regan kicks off proceedings in grand style and sets the understated, hushed tone for the album. Occasionally this acoustic reverie is interrupted by the likes of Nina Hynes and Neosupervital, both of whom have decided to plug in and rock out to great effect. Hynes’ ‘Monoprix’ is an upbeat pop antidote to most singer-songwriter self-reflexivity, and one can’t help but think that we have yet to hear the best coming from the band-aided and sellotaped-together Casio that Neosupervital currently wields.

All in all, this is a great album that reminds us that there is much more to the canon of Irish singer-songwriters than the over-exposed names we’re familiar with. You’ll be hearing a lot more from these artists, the stars of tomorrow, and in the meantime, savour their songs before the rest of the world cottons on.