Well looky hear, it’s a singer-songwriter from Michigan. Not sure what they put in the water over there, but it would seem it does wonders for miserable, yet a bit folky, young males with a penchant for trumpets, keyboards and generally taking busking up a few levels to an art form. Yup, the state that brought you Sufjan Stevens has now offered up Chris Bathgate, and a more than worthy sequel he is too.A Cork Tale Wake is a lovely collection of dark and brooding yet joyously elaborate and occasionally playful songs arranged with imagination and sung beautifully. He has been mentioned in the same breath as Will Oldham as well as Mr Stevens, with some even alluding to Nick Cave (which seems a bit much, frankly ”“ his subject matter can be pretty miserable, but Bathgate is no goth crooner), which should give you some idea of the regard in which he’s being held; and, in my opinion, rightly so.Opener ‘Serpentine’ is a wonderful piano/fiddle-driven dirge that immediately draws you in. It’s followed by ‘The Last Parade on Ann St.’; pure acoustic folk for two minutes before beautifully ripping off ‘Where Is My Mind’ by the pixies (the "ooh ooooooh" bit, but without the ooh oooooohs. You’ll know what I mean when you hear it) in the middle before chilling right out again at the end. A deep violin rumble, scattered trumpets and rolling drums greet you on ‘Every Wall Your Own’ and by then I was well and truly sold. ‘Smiles Like a Fist’ is all piano licks and beefy electric guitar bravado, and your left wondering what else Bathgate is going to pull out of the bag. Fully expecting reggae, bangra or a country hoedown, thankfully everything slows down to acoustic pace with three lovely, melancholy tunes that are eventually interrupted by the slightly disappointing ‘Restless’. The closing four songs head back to the melancholy at full tilt, but the simple, sparse arrangements demand the attention; it really is gorgeous, soothing stuff.I know it’s early days, but I certainly have my first contender for album of the year (even though its technically been out in the US for some time) and I’d be amazed if this isn’t still doing the rounds on my Walkman playlist when the crappy weather returns (that is, of course, providing it actually goes away). 92%Links Chris Bathgate [official site] [myspace]