Conchúr White shines on his debut album, while The Smile takes us within orbit of the Radiohead mothership

Conchúr White has been releasing music for the past four years or so. A singer-songwriter whose wide range of influences informs his songs, he impressed with early singles and an EP. Few of his admirers were surprised when the Co Armagh native was signed by the taste-making Berlin-based label Bella Union.

But when it come to delivering a debut album, would the heightened expectations be matched? Swirling Violets doesn’t just live up to the hype — it comfortably exceeds it. This is an album that I’ve listened to more than any other this month and it keeps on delivering. The notion of slow-burn songs has become a cliché, but these 11 really are that — impressive enough on first listen, they creep up on you, worming their way into your heart and feeling as though they’ve always been there.

Gorgeously rendered lead single I Did Good Today finds him singing about crippling shyness, about being ‘the introvert at the wedding’

There’s a homespun feel to some of the material and White’s guitar-playing, especially on the atmospheric Rivers, is redolent of Fionn Regan when he first emerged. There’s a strong American influence too — White cites Midlake and Bleachers as inspirations — but little that feels derivative. And one of the album’s striking aspects is the depth and variation of the tracks. He has a lot of tricks up those sleeves.

There are several radio-friendly songs too, including the gorgeously rendered lead single I Did Good Today, which finds him singing about crippling shyness, about being “the introvert at the wedding”. 501s is a sweet ode to young love, an acoustic-driven delight in that takes an unexpectedly lovely sonic detour midway through. Its refrain, “You were everything that I needed”, sounds corny on paper, but not on record.

White has done his part; will the record-buying public do theirs?

Eight years on from the last Radiohead album and it’s becoming less and less likely that we’ll get a follow-up to A Moon-Shaped Pool any time soon. Each member has been busy with their own projects and The Smile — which sees Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood join forces with Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner — is about as close as we’ll get to the mothership.

Their first album was far more than just a place-holder, and follow-up Wall of Eyes is an even more expansive, rewarding offering. Skinner’s role has been augmented, especially in the jazzy, textured arrangements. The songs convey a sense of darkness and disquiet — very Radiohead, that — but in a curiously relaxed way.

The faintly Beatleseque Friend of a Friend is one of the most chilled tracks Yorke has ever delivered and his vocals, brittle and affecting, help make the song one of the very best outside the Radiohead canon.