Tried it again this morning, it was like "now or never", and loaded the crap out of the poor soap. I was swirling for almost two minutes and palm lathered, got a very thick slick lather which resulted in a really nice smooth irritation free shave! A bit drying but, finally!
Thanks Ian! I think you were spot on with "you're not loading the brush enough"
On the other hand, my brush was very wet