Bronagh Gallagher
Bronagh Gallagher
(Salty Dog Records)

In the 1991 film The Commitments, Bronagh Gallagher starred as a backing singer in a Dublin soul band. Since then, this entertainer has stayed true to those roots with her debut solo album, Precious Soul, and now her self-titled follow up. This Northern Irish songstress has stepped into some big, dazzling diva shoes to evoke the brassy elements of soul and vintage rock ‘n’ roll.

Synth and brass provide brilliant accompaniment to Gallagher’s voice, and nothing about her delivery feels contrived like some neo-soul acts around today. The genre is just perfectly suited to Gallagher’s writing, with her nuanced storytelling about characters in emotional points in their lives.

“Mexico” is a sprawling tune describing a man on the run who hopes to protect his lover. “I Fall Apart” is a fragile glimpse into Gallagher’s vulnerable side, which contrasts with the spunky “Make a Move,” a ‘50s rock tune inviting a man to pursue her after their romantic timing had failed in the past. Another epic, “Mink and Lama,” goes through the tragic fate of two lovers who “play life out like a movie.”

Gallagher has had roles in many movies notable in America—Pulp Fiction and Sherlock Holmes just to name two—but her music really ought to catch on here as well. With a skillful pen and a set of pipes that would do her countryman Van Morrison proud, Bronagh Gallagher has delivered a cracking second album.