Marc O Reilly‘Human Herdings’, the second offering from Waterford native Marc O’Reilly, is an album with two identities: the first, a stomping, bluesy character and the other, its softer, more muted counterpart. One explodes in a furor of retro Americana, while the other retreats to an intimate, folkier territory. And while, on their own, either could become tiresome or even irritating, together, they make a pretty remarkable whole.

What O’Reilly has done is to balance the two so that neither overwhelms the other: there’s a power behind both which may show itself in very different ways, but is never less than obvious. Wielding some rather impressive guitar skills and a gravelly set of vocals, he knows when to notch these up or tone them down, and does so in a way that always allows for surprises.

Take the bluesy rock side of the album: tracks like Same Side or Reach Out would nearly leave you gasping for breath, trying to keep up with their frenetic acoustic guitars and sliding electric riffs. They build and they fall back, but they’re never less than forceful. The seriously speedy, almost scuzzy guitars and pounding drums of You Never, for example, really rip it up, ending before you have a chance to even realise it happened.

On the other hand, songs like Lighthouse and Just So radiate a completely different feel, a much more mellow and almost delicate one. This time round, guitars are gently layered, vocals are softened, surrendering some of their huskiness, and little touches, such as the piano in Letting Go or swooning guitar in Fallen, actually make a big impact. And while these are more restrained songs, they’re no less potent: their power lies in trusting their own simplicity.

In an odd way, what makes ‘Human Herdings’ stand out in the way it does is its modesty. O’Reilly’s talent seeps through the album rather than submerging it. There’s room for those gutsy moments as well as for the quieter ones; neither one dominates, nor do they struggle against each other. In the plainest terms, this is a strong and accomplished collection of well-crafted songs. By keeping it that simple, Marc O’Reilly has, in fact, created something impressively solid.