|
Style: Slow-burning balladry; compare to The Swell Season, Josh Ritter, Ray LaMontagne
Top tracks: "Love Don't Leave Me Waiting," "High Hope," "Maybe Not Tonight"
The first solo album from the highly accomplished Hansard (The Frames, The Swell Season and Once) smolders with Irish soul but runs heavy on repose. Hansard's voice and lyrics pack power even in restraint as he insightfully deals with love's raw uncertainties, tangled losses, and redemptive hopes. Standouts "Love Don't Leave Me Waiting" and "High Hope" soar with a Van Morrison-like glow, and "Bird of Sorrow" breaks the cathartic plane. Unfortunately the collection too often simmers without breaking into the boil that Hansard can unleash. Still a deeper listen buoys the heart in the tension between what is and what might be. (Note: "What Are We Gonna Do" includes a single profanity.)
Copyright © 2012 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Annual & Monthly subscriptions available.
- Print & Digital Issues of CT magazine
- Complete access to every article on ChristianityToday.com
- Unlimited access to 65+ years of CT’s online archives
- Member-only special issues
- Learn more
Read These Next
- TrendingAmerican Christians Should Stand with Israel under AttackWhile we pray for peace, we need moral clarity about this war.
- From the MagazineWhat Kind of Man Is This?We’ve got little information on Jesus’ appearance and personality. But that’s the way God designed it.españolFrançais
- Editor's PickCare for the Environment Is Biblical. It’s Also a Witness to Environmentalists.Do activists often invest their work with religious significance? All the more reason for Christians to be discerning co-laborers.