Album: Theology
Artist: Sinead O’Connor
Label: Shock Records
Sounds like: Massive Attack meets
Sons of Korah

Sinead, who has had a rocky relationship with the Catholic Church in the past, starts this new album by singing that she wants to make something beautiful for God with the Bible she stole, and then launches into a rather odd set consisting of psalms (mostly) set to her own music. (There are also Curtis Mayfield and Andrew Lloyd Webber covers.) It’s a double album; the first disc recorded with a band, and with the sound influenced as much by traditional Celtic music and reggae as Bristol-dark triphop. The second disc consists of stripped acoustic versions of the same songs. Because of the difficulty of fitting psalm rhythms to pop music, it can sound awkward at times, not to mention rambling and maudlin, yet strangely intriguing, leading one to conclude that nothing compares 2 her.

Nicks rating: 3/5