Album Review: The Wild Swan by Foy Vance

The third studio long-player from the soulful Northern Irishman, and his first outing for longtime tourmate Ed Sheeran's Gingerbread Man Records, The Wild Swan finds Vance offering up another master class in contemporary, Emerald Isle-infused roots rock. Opening with the rollicking, slap bass-driven "Noam Chomsky Is a Soft Revolution," a future live staple that perfectly encapsulates Vance's Otis Redding meets The Commitments vibe, the 12-track set both invigorates and soothes. Produced in Nashville by Jacquire King (James Bay, Tom Waits) -- Elton John and Sheeran serve as executive producers -- easy, Sunday-afternoon porch jams like "Upbeat Feelgood" and "Unlike Any Other" will do little to quell the Van Morrison comparisons, but Vance is such an affable and capable tunesmith that, even at his most Belfast Cowboy, his songs never feel like fan fiction.

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