It's not fair to reduce such a talented individual to "a kind of blend between Frank Sinatra, Jacques Brel, Scott Walker and Nick Cave", but at least it gives some clue to his performance and material, and in any case, Sinatra and Brel are both dead, Walker refuses to perform and Nick Cave's an Australian.

All I know about Jack Lukeman is that he comes from Ireland and has a stunning voice, and many of the songs in his set are worth the price of the ticket alone. Stardust, Georgie Boy and So Far Gone are all gems and his jazz rendition of Brel's Jackie is the best interpretation I've heard since Peter Straker's version at the C Venue some years ago.

I have no idea why this man is not an international star, but he should be. Some big promoter is going to make a fortune touring him around the world. If that happens as a result of this article, I want a cut. I already had my fingers burnt with bloody Derren Brown so remember where you heard the tip. (Actually I'll settle for some show passes.)

Magician and comedian Jerry Sadowitz explains the genius of Jack Lukeman

HOTPRESS Magazine - 'Jack L: Broken Songs (Torc Music)'

There’s irony plenty in this album’s title. The first studio output in five years from Athy’s favourite musical son proves that Jack L’s time away from song writing has served him well: always a consummate live performer, these so-called Broken Songs make up his strongest studio collection yet.

Nobody ever denied the quality of Jack’s delivery. From the very early days, when Jack the lad was merely an interpreter of the work of Brel, Cohen, Walker and Waits, even the deaf could feel Lukeman’s vocal power: normally at a gig, it’s the bass rumble that sets your trousers a billowing, but in the days of the Black Romantics, it was more likely to be Lukeman’s oral assault.

If anything, his voice is an even more incredible phenomenon now, a fuller, more rounded instrument that’s equally at home with the breathy whisper as the full-blown bellow (often in the same song – ‘I’ve Been Raining’), as capable of a tender caress and a cuddle on the couch as a night of seedy, sweaty copulation. The arrangements too seem more mature: the musical backdrop, while never short of interesting, is unfussy enough to let Jack’s voice soar and swoop, flow and eddy, just like it was born to.

‘Chocolate Eyes’ is one of the finest songs Lukeman has ever written, a soulful, seductive lullaby with a melody so hummable that it has radio hit written all over it. Elsewhere, ‘Authentic Fake’, with a guitar line reminiscent of Crowded House’s ‘Weather With You’, and the emotive ‘Open Your Borders’ prove that there’s no shortage of potential singles, while the tribal ‘Wicked Way’s raucous roar-along should make it a favourite at Jack’s incendiary live shows. There’s a timeless quality to songs like ‘Sweet Low Down’ and ‘Apes And Angels’ that should both seduce new listeners and appease diehard fans. Even the language he uses in his lyrics speaks of emotions as ancient as time itself: “If love is just for poets, then forever we’ll speak in rhyme” (‘Broken Songs’).

Jack L has always been a unique talent. With Broken Songs, he has the material to show off his remarkable vocal prowess to the full. A warm, intimate and well-rounded record, these songs are anything but broken and are more than capable of making him the international star he deserves to be.

Nine/Ten

John Walshe

Scotland on Sunday -  'Jack L: Broken Songs (Torc Music)'

Jack L has taken you to Brel and back, reinterpreted Kylie, but now is simply himself. As he puts it on the poignant title track: 'Viva The Evolution!' Collaborating with other writers and working with different producers has built a steadily upward career trajectory, but this time out Ireland's best singer has done everything himself. That means writing all the material and also producing the record, the result being greater consistency than previous outings.

The subtle diversity of the material melded by the kind of big woody sound which soundtracks cafés in the darker quarters of European cities, and Nashville bars at the downtown end of Broadway. Every breath is made to sound crucial, the enunciation of each syllable deliberately savoured as each tale unfolds. Jack sounds like he is savouring every moment of this record, and consequently the listener cannot help but do the same. Songs like 'Sweet Low down or 'Open Your Borders' are blessed with a timeless quality that transcends genre, possessing directness and honesty which is thoroughly affecting.

His extraordinary vocal range can make even the darkest subject matter strangely life affirming, and in I've Been Raining, Jack L has constructed a classic drama of a pop song. When he sings, "I can almost taste it," it is with the urgency of a man who scents a greater breakthrough is within his grasp. It surely must be. This collection of tunes should prove irresistible to radio, and with the lead off single 'Authentic Fake' first to come calling, they should be queuing up for a fix of these Broken Songs.

Colin Somerville