Niamh Regan - Come As You Are (Vinyl / CD)

The second album from the Galway songwriter, and the sound of an artist stepping fully into her own. Where her acclaimed 2020 debut Hemet was hushed and spare, Come As You Are opens things out into a rich full-band record, made in Donegal with producer Tommy McLaughlin and moving confidently between indie-folk, Americana and unexpected electronic textures. The songs deal in faltering relationships, self-doubt and the long haul of love with the plain-spoken candour the title promises.

Madonna eases you in on gentle folk-pop, Music swings on a Wilco-style guitar solo, Nice takes a bold left turn into beat-driven territory, and Long Haul is the dreamy, devastating standout. Hot Press hailed her as one of the most formidable forces in Irish indie-folk, while KLOF Mag called it a brutally authentic work from a songwriter of the highest order.