Brimming with clever observations and witty asides, Ciaran Lavery’s fifth studio album ‘Light Entertainment’ is the Northern Irish stalwart’s finest album to date with its mix of dystopian disco boogies and airy reflections on the pomposity of being an artiste in the age of misinformation. The album benefits greatly from Lavery’s ability to take the piss out of himself.

Hearse, however, is anything but light entertainment, a tense, brooding slow burn that builds like a sonic love letter to the time before Arcade Fire were problematic. We’re Looking For A Hit sees Lavery and fellow Northern Irish veteran Joshua Burnside take aim at the music industry’s constant need for monetary returns over artistic development.

Morgana joins Lavery for Oh My God, (No Your God), which highlights the pointlessness of the religious divisions that have blighted Ireland for the last hundred years. Ted Bundy Tapes, meanwhile, takes aim at the billionaire classes who have turned the news into the well-dressed, polite face of fascism.

The album’s final star turn sees underground indie supremo Liz Lawrence join the fray for Ctrl Alt Dlt, which chronicles our inability to stop the negative things that we can all see happening to wider society. Where do we go in a world were knowing that something is wrong isn’t enough to stop it? Much of ‘Light Entertainment’ hangs on such deceits, chronicling a world never more educated than ever but never less enabled to effect change. The album concludes with The World Will Put Its Arms Around You, a rallying cry not to get smothered by all the negativity being pumped into the world.

The recent success of Kneecap and Jordan Adetunji has brought an unprecedented focus on to the Northern Irish music scene, and if anybody deserves to be lifted up by that wave of interest it’s Ciaran Lavery. ‘Light Entertainment’ is easily one of the best albums crafted on this Island in 2024.