Irish songcraftsman Fionn Regan's soft-spoken 2006 debut album The End of History (Lost Highway) was a remarkably assured and literate collection of lo-fi, self-produced modern folk/rock with a sound that one critic described as "a more sunny sounding Nick Drake." With a beguiling mix of smarts and lack of pretense, History was a lesson in brilliant, often darkly hued writing and superbly rendered, stark production that still managed a warm embrace. Every note seemed included with a purpose but the sound was never mannered or overly structured. Not surprisingly, Regan found a welcoming critical base and the then 26-year-old was nominated for the prestigious Mercury Prize in the U.K.

Forthcoming February 9 album Shadow of An Empire (Heavenly/Import) moves Regan from the acoustic bedroom-recording intimacy of his initial offering to a brisk, street-busking energy level that reflects his larger, wider musical world view -- the “seeing the world, the bone structure, the pulp” of what he encountered on his internationl tour travels. “There were no airs or graces about it, we cut live in the room, live vocals", says Regan. "As far a production goes…I’m very much into keeping mistakes, a crack in the voice, the natural ebb and flow of live drums, so that there’s a sort of evidence of the process… I think it’s that atmosphere which makes me want to revisit my favorite albums again and again.” Lead track "Protection Racket" is a wirey, lithe jumble of electric twang and Dylanesque verbal ramble, a driving, ragged-edged mix of Waterboys thrust and scathing folk/punk social comment.

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Fionn Regan - "Protection Racket" (from the album Shadow Of An Empire)

Fionn Regan - "Snowy Atlas Mountains" (from the album The End Of History)