Michael D. Higgins – Against All Certainty (Vinyl)

The debut spoken word album from poet and former President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins, released on Claddagh Records in the final months of his presidency and recorded in Áras an Uachtaráin. Ten poems drawn from across his four published collections are set to ambient soundscapes of electronics, strings and horns by Myles O'Reilly, with Higgins introducing each piece in a chatty, fireside register that closes the distance between poet and listener entirely.

The material reaches deep into his own history and the country's, from 'Brothers' and 'My Mother Married My Father In Mount Melleray In 1937' to 'The Betrayal', a devastating account of his father's decline and the state that failed the generation who built it. It debuted at number three on the Irish album chart, the biggest opening week of any spoken word album in Irish chart history, and the accompanying film for 'The Betrayal' stars Ciarán Hinds. A genuine one-off and an essential document of a singular Irish life.