Dempsey’s den

Damien Dempsey thought he was going to freeze to death.

“It was April, when the sea off Dublin is at its coldest,” he says. “I was wearing nothing but a black shirt and black jeans. I was soaking wet and couldn’t stop shivering. Without question, I was in the first stages of hypothermia.”

The suffering yielded the memorable photograph on the cover of his latest album, Almighty Love. The iconic smokestacks of Poolbeg power station in the background, Dempsey rises from the water, arms outstretched, eyes closed. It is a powerful image, almost as powerful as the music on the album.