The challenge of retaining a vitality, of mining fresh seams, is one that faces all artists with the gumption to cleave to the long road.
Luka Bloom is on intimate terms with that challenge, and how he relishes every mile on Frúgalisto.
Less is more is the pervasive theme of this collection and in many ways it marks the apotheosis of Bloom’s search for solace within.
All the big themes are here – consumerism, love, death, war – shot through with a refreshing humour that leavens the tone beautifully.
It's in the production, too, that Frúgalisto shimmers, with fittingly expansive and then bare-boned arrangements buffering songs to come home to again and again.
Flute, fiddle, banjo, percussion and a magnificently funereal trombone add heft and buoyancy to what is one of Bloom’s finest collections.
