Kitt is one of Ireland's top practitioners of mass-appeal melancholia, his two previous albums having established him there as the local answer to David Gray (this CD, released last year, spent three weeks at the top of the Irish chart).

But since his recent marriage, "Kittser", as he's styled in the credits, is melancholy no longer, as is only too evident. "I'm in love with a girl, the funniest girl in the world/ Didn't know it could happen to me," oozes the opening track on Square 1, with, it must be said, more than a touch of smugness.

The next 45 minutes, serenely pretty though they are, are like being held hostage by one of those people who demand you admire pictures of their offspring. His euphoria illuminates every folky note, but you don't necessarily want to share the whole shebang.

Kitt used to incorporate electronics and razor-cut rock into proceedings, but no more. Tonic and Long, Long Stares, both cool and rocky, are the only moments that shake the album out of its torpor. The rest, carried by Kitt's toffee-flavoured croon and ambling pedal-steel guitar, proves that, while love may be many-splendoured, it hasn't done much for his writing.