Love or its absence dominates the intimate songs on the new album from ARBORIST, the musical outlet of Belfast’s Mark McCambridge

ARBORIST’s fouth LP and the first self-produced by McCambridge, largely from his home studio in Belfast – and at times it feels like we are present with him there in the room. These quiet hours are clearly where McCambridge feels most at ease - after all, this is a singer Bill Drummond has described as writing songs, “riven with more loss than any record since Leonard Cohen quit this world”, who Kim Deal chose to sing in beautiful, intertwined harmony with on debut single Twisted Arrow and who Matthew E White and his Spacebomb band collaborated with to such astonishing effect on the previous Arborist LP.

Spacebomb’s resident bassist Cameron Ralston (Bonnie Light Horseman, Hiss Golden Messenger) again features throughout, alongside Eamon Ferris (The Waterboys) on drums and Ben McAuley (Van Morrison) engineering. It calls to mind albums such as Songs Ohia’s Magnolia Electric Co., The Divine Comedy’s Regeneration, The Blue Nile’s Hats and Wilco’s Ode to Joy, as well as early-70s records from John Cale, John Lennon and Bill Fay.