Like his countryman Van Morrison, Paul Brady found ways to transform traditional folk music into exquisite and individualistic soul ballads. In a career that encompasses five decades, Brady has moved from Irish music into atmospheric, jazz-inflected R&B. His highly textured songs are always grounded in his writing, which offers small-scale portraits of relationships and loss. As a vocalist, he's intense but comforting—a sensitive everyman who cares too much about his slow-burning musical visions to chase pop stardom.