I like cats. That’s all very well but the relevant fact is that cats just don’t like me. Maybe I don’t smell enough like chicken or maybe I’m just not sensitive enough to be a cat person. Someone who is, however, most certainly sensitive enough to be a cat person is Étáin and, with her debut album “The Well”, she serves up twelve neatly polished morsels of musical introspection.
To her credit, Étáin has a talent for making all that she sings seem almost poetic and, whilst never likely to run out of sentimentality, she manages to skilfully keep herself just over the borderline that separates the truly sensitive from the simply fey. There are no great punchlines to be found on this album and that surely is the point. We all need some time to reflect and with Étáin as our coach in such matters, it takes but little in the way of time and effort to transfer yourself from the jagged edges of reality to a wonderland where the heart is always, if never immediately, invigorated by sugar and spice and all things nice.
“The Well” is, superficially at least, so darn tasteful that you may question the necessity of many of your previous music purchases yet, underneath those scarlet ribbons and comfy cardigans, Étáin demonstrates a notable emotional depth that, with malice never ever aforethought, sneaks up upon your psyche and simply makes you wish that you had a heart like hers.