Paul Brady – Say What You Feel

Now many years removed from his early career as a traditional Irish singer, Paul Brady has once again assembled a fine bunch of co-written songs. With R&B and a little urgent pop as a backdrop, Brady digs into succinct, emotive love stories and takes on the spiritual suicide of corporate culture, the many guises of self-deception, and the lamentably short run that is life.

Bradys compositions have been recorded by countless performers, from Santana to Cher to Bonnie Raitt to Maura OConnell. As this album reaffirms, his lyrics can lash (Here comes my baby with that mask on her face, he sings in the title track) while his melodies soothe or unsettle in a trice. And while he enjoys a healthy streak of cynicism, he never gives up on our potential for change nor our inherent spark of goodness.

A well-weathered but still powerful tenor, Brady is in fine voice on Say What You Feel, delivering his tunes with minimal fuss. His cast is first-rate: Raitt does a turn on backing vocals, Viktor Krauss handles most of the bass work, and Reese Wynans gets credit on the Hammond.