Cousteau: Sirena

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * * )

The lush, self-titled debut by this five-piece - helmed by London-based pianist/writer Davey Ray Moor and voiced by Irish singer Liam Makahey - won praise in this column a year ago for its warmth, memorable songs and references in Bacharach, Bowie the balladeer and, especially, Makahey's Scott Walker-style vocals.

If you liked that, or those namechecks mean something to you, you'll certainly like this because Moor hasn't messed with the ingredients, just upped the stakes in consistent, romantic material with an edge of the dramatic.

Songs for swinging, if jaded, lovers. And that's fashionable.

Label: FMH