John Carney is clearly fascinated by the process of making music. ONCE explored the breakthrough album, BEGIN AGAIN the production and business side of the industry. SING STREET captures music making at its most pure – getting a group of friends together, trying things out and having fun. The musical sequences manage to avoid too many comparisons to THE COMMITMENTS by colourfully working their way through the 1980s in pop music with nailed-on pastiches of the decade’s trends. One of my favourite moments is one of the most simple – two brothers sitting on the stairs contemplating their deeply unhappy mother as she sits on the front doorstep with her back to them. Carney has gathered a really talented musical ensemble, particularly the astounding multi-instrumentalist Mark McKenna (who gets to show off hilariously in a montage where he proceeds to play a succession of increasingly obscure instruments). You’ll be uplifted and humming to yourself for a long time afterwards, I promise. SSP