Niall Toner: Working on Love | Album Review

If medals were awarded for service beyond the call of making Ireland safe for country music, then Niall Toner would be bent over with the weight of metal adorning his cowboy shirt.

On radio, Toner has been a lighthouse for all that is good in Nashville – and, in turn, has used these influences to shape his own career as a performer.

Working on Love is his fifth album; while the songs concern love's pluses and minuses, they also proclaim his affection for all shades of country and indeed Irish music.

Toner recorded it in Nashville, and the top-notch supporting players repay his trust with skill and imagination. Toner’s voice is a little weathered these days, mitigated by the masterly harmonies of Wendy Buckner and producer Keith Sewell.

The quality of the songs varies, but this album is replete with love for the music and the people who inspired it.