Jack Savoretti's new album is Before the Storm. Picture: Claire Nathan

»How is it that I’d never heard anything by Jack Savoretti before listening to his new album Before the Storm?

Savoretti plays the kind of music I like best – plenty of heartbreak, guitars, piano, and poetic lyrics.

Before the Storm is a mix of styles, with Savoretti segueing between folk, country, classic pop and rock, sometimes using more than one genre in a song.

The second track on the album, Take Me Home, has a great guitar riff and highlights his husky voice, which has a quality that makes you believe every word he is singing.

The Proposal is hopeful despite its metaphor of building a bridge and watching it burn, while For the Last Time makes you feel every emotion Savoretti is singing about – heartbreak and grief, resignation and determination.

Knock Knock is a fun track which conjures up images of old-style saloons from westerns on television on long Sunday afternoons.

Before the Storm is really one long love song with all its ups and downs, but despite tracks like Take Me Home and album opener Not Worthy (I’m not worthy of your love/I’m barely keeping up), Savoretti sounds far from desperate on Before the Storm.

Rather, he comes across as a brutally honest songwriter, unafraid to expose his deepest emotions. It’s an attractive quality and the one which makes Before the Storm such a good album.

Sarah Shaffi