Luka Bloom: Amsterdam

Reviewed by GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * )

Luka Bloom won't have the misfortune of becoming a self-parody because he has that other curse - he isn't vocally distinguished although he has a warm, strong voice and can pen a refined lyric. The brother of Irish singer-song-writing legend Christy Moore, he has done half a dozen albums, one of them a judicious selection of covers which shows he's honest enough to acknowledge influences and a good tune. Amsterdam (Shock) is a live album and picks the eyes out of his back-catalogue, revisits some of those covers (Marley's Natural Mystic, Dylan's Make You Feel My Love, Mike Scott's Sunny Sailor Boy which gets a haunting singalong by the audience) and cleverly modulates the pace as the intimate evening progresses.

Gentle humour, precision folk-strumming and full-bodied sound, memorable songs. The Al Stewart of his generation?