"The sound is a little bit different than the last one. There are some upbeat songs and then some rap-like stuff too. It’s still my voice and my opinions, though, so it’s got plenty of similarities to my previous albums,” he says.

One of the Good Ones is the song that the Cork native says most resembles rap, with its strong beat and electro sound, and was likely influenced by Kendrick Lamar, who he listened to while writing the album.

“I like Kendrick Lamar. I like what he talks about and his arrangements, he doesn’t seem to care about structures. I think it’s great that he has made it to mainstream because he is not pandering. He may have little compromises but he is sneaking in important lyrical subjects,” he says.

In fact, this may be what influenced the singer-songwriter most with his latest album, which he describes as more socially conscious and less involved than his others.

Songs like the title track, I Own You are very much to do with capitalism and the master-slave relationship. While writing the album, Mick was watching the Baltimore riots and the trial of the murderers of Freddie Gray on the television. He believes his new album has fed into the idea of the poor man character.

The story behind this album has its roots in America, which Mick believes is symbolic in itself because the country is “the spearhead of capitalism”.

Mick is of the opinion that artists do not discuss these issues in their music or, rather, that daytime radio does not play songs with this type of content.

“It’s not always obvious what the point is or who is driving the information that we are getting. Is it for our enrichment or is it to placate us? You know, it would seem to me that there ought to be a lot more criticism of the capitalist system in common conversation and there isn’t,” he says.

Like his latest album, Mick is thoughtful in the answers he delivers; he takes time to dissect what he has been asked and is pensive in his answers.

At one point in our conversation, he stops to say: “This isn’t a great point. I haven’t thought this properly.”

The reason he is sitting in this dimly lit pub, discussing his fifth album to date, he believes is because of his supportive family: “I think my parents were very important, they were encouraging. You could say that I was just brought up in a nice way, by sensitive, thoughtful parents who instilled in me these empathetic feelings for other people.”

Hailed as one of the best songwriters in Ireland, with four very successful albums, the Blarney man has remained modest and humble.

“It’s a little bit embarrassing,” he says cracking a smile. “When an album comes out I have to do lots of interviews and I get so tired of talking about myself. It feels unhealthy. It feels like a whole month of just thinking about me and what’s going to happen to me and my new album.”

More important to him than success, the song writing and music is the most important part of his job: “I hope that I keep writing songs because it seems to be what makes me happiest or at least it keeps me company.”