Lonely Road

Irishman Liam McKahey enjoyed a brief brush with stardom in the early '00s with the British band Cousteau. But despite McKahey's deliciously deep, force-of-nature croon and keyboardist Davey Ray Moor's classic-pop songwriting smarts, the group fell by the wayside before its time. After relocating to Australia, McKahey (who'd taken on songwriting responsibilities on Cousteau's final, Moor-less album) started his own band, releasing Lonely Road in 2009. To note that it's Cousteau-esque is akin to blasting Robert Plant's solo outings for retaining Led Zep–like touches. McKahey owns one of the richest and most under-appreciated voices in the entire pop/rock realm, and he deploys it here with as much deftness as he displayed in his Cousteau days. A sonic heir to the likes of Scott Walker and David Bowie, he manages to sound masculine without an iota of macho bluster. And while a slow-rolling cabaret-pop tune like "Clyde" bears trace elements of McKahey's former band, the James Bond theme-in-waiting "Lovers and Fools" explores avenues all its own. Cousteau may be gone, but thankfully, McKahey's majestic voice carries on.