Dylan Walshe is a Dubliner living in East Nashville and the Tennessee connection softens the raw edges of Irish folk to make for a modest yet assured collection of rootsy, lyrical ballads.
The album features James Fearnley, accordionist of The Pogues on two songs: Same Old Prayer and Where Dublin Meets Wicklow, both of which appear with alternative versions. Shane MacGowan is more of an inspiration than an influence and the record's wistful mood is often more like Van Morrison with vague echoes of Woody Guthrie (via Billy Bragg and Wilco's Mermaid Avenue series).
If there's a theme, it seems to be a search to define truth and a sense of place. "What if we drift too far?" he asks on At Sea and stated goal of The Trickle-Down Effect is to "rise above all the lies".
The poignant opening song, Blind Is Blind , is the best thing here and , while the title suggests nobody has all the answers, Walshe deserves credit for asking the right questions.