The 29-year-old has been for the past five years producing some fine folk/rock records and has been building a loyal following, quietly and peacefully, away from the public eye and madness of fame.

He set the scene for things to come with the independent release of 2002's "The Golden Age of Radio" which was soon followed by the brilliant "Hello Starling" the following year. Both records were made of pure and simply elegant ballads. Some upbeat and full of hope, others were sad and despondent. He plays the guitar like a monk plays with his bead-chain, chary and eloquent. One bead at a time; one string, one note, at a time.

In "The Animal Years" - his first record for major label V2 - Ritter travels along the same path, the one he had paved himself with his previous records; a path of achingly beautiful melodies, escorted by sorrowful, sometimes scornful, lyrics. These songs are human.

In 'Idaho' he is lusciously haunting, in the 9-minute-long epic 'Thin Blue Flame' he is deep and compelling, but Ritter is also extremely conscious of the significance of the words he sings and he enjoys the space the music provide him in exploring the complexities of human experience, history and literature.

There's something aptly romantic about Ritter's rise. He had followed the footsteps of the great folk singers, literally, and recreated a manifestation of their journeys through his own music. Like Tracy Chapman, Bruce Springsteen and Bob Dylan, he began playing in front of small coffee shop crowds. "I figured that was the way to do it," he says. He played his first proper gig opening for a local band in Dublin, during which he sold 10 of his own CD's, "I felt like the richest man in the world," Ritter says about that night.

Indeed, today his richness remains, in the quality of his music, his resonating, starlet songs. This is the kind of man - and music - that will stand the test of time. And with records such as "The Animal Years" I am sure he will sell more than 10 CD's!