Absolutely stunning work here from Ian Lynch, founding member of Irish experimental folk group Lankum. Inspired by various abandoned and “rediscovered” spaces throughout Dublin, these tracks are somber and occasionally harrowing, but for the patient listener, they resolve into utterly transcendent beauty, uplifting the soul and providing a catharsis, a lifeline of hope in a bleak world.

This record sprawls; though it’s only five songs, the album is over 45 minutes. The music takes its time – songs wander into being out of a formless mist, a shimmering haze melting into a viscous, sludgy form out of thin air. Lynch’s aching vocals spill his heart over this canvas, draping the desolate atmosphere in a primordial howl, echoing out over the bogs and through the empty buildings of the city, searching for the light. If there’s a sonic equivalent to the concept of life from death, mushrooms and fungus growing from rot, bogs giving life from their water, this is it.

Almost every single instrument and vocal portion on this record is performed by Lynch himself, giving …And Take The Black Worm With Me a uniquely cohesive sound and texture. Layers of sound cascade into and over each other, at once a babbling brook and an avalanche, a ball of piercing light cracking through a wall of shadow. The most illustrative example of this sonic dichotomy is Lynch’s cover of the Irish traditional “I’d Rather Be Tending My Sheep.” Beginning as something akin to a funeral dirge, it eventually builds and crests a magnificent wave, breaking through a shimmering sky and sailing through golden clouds to the horizon.

I recently visited Ireland and listened to some of these songs as I drove across the country and took in the green, the sheer age of the place, and that’s what really resonates with me about this album – you can feel the echoes of time in these songs, the pain and hope, the struggle and triumph, life and death, wistfulness, anger, and everything in between. It’s rare to find an album that contains so much emotion, especially in such an unconventional and personal style.

For a debut solo record, I’m not sure how much better one could hope to do. I know I’ve harped on how heavy and otherwise emotional this album can be, but I promise it is one of the most rewarding listens you’ll ever experience.