Andy White

Andy White’s melodies, like Lloyd Cole’s and sometimes Lou Reed’s, seem inconsequential until about the fourth hearing, when they poke through your consciousness all day—the sparkling beauty of “Sunrise,” the warnings of “Deeper Water.” The Belfast native, living in Switzerland these past three years, writes of spiritual freedom and romantic transcendence, a departure from his earlier, more topical songs on his five releases in the ’80s and ’90s arising from “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland. In the Springsteen-laced “Me the Moon My Car and You,” complete with rippling Federici accordion, he extends the romantic vision of cars in the sweet night. The musical settings, built around White’s multiple guitars, are lush with harp, keyboards and accordion. White is not well-known in the U.S., but has been seen in Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD lineups. He, like this album, is worth checking out this summer.