I have to admit, after 2013’s amazing music releases, 2014 has left me kind of underwhelmed. Although it’s only February, there just hasn’t been the same excitement and anticipation for albums like there was last year. However, Irish indie-folk songwriter James Vincent McMorrow has been the exception. His second album, “Post Tropical” was released last month and keeps growing on me. It seems like a “simple” album at first, but every listen gives way to a variety of musical influences, thus straying away from the “folk” label that his first album stuck to. Despite the influences from genres all over, the album’s strength are in the lyrics and McMorrow’s vocals. From lead single “Cavalier” (“I remember my first love”) to my personal favorite and album standout “Red Dust” (“Sometimes my hands don’t feel like my own, I need someone to love, I need someone to hold”), it’s an album that sounds personal and intimate.

“Post Tropical” is not an album to multi-task to. Instead, I’d recommend listening to it before bed with a cup of tea in hand while collecting your thoughts.

James Vincent McMorrow will be playing at Turner Hall in Milwaukee on March 28. I can’t wait to see how these emotive songs play out live.