The Frames and The Swell Season front man, Glen Hansard offers a stripped-down sound on his debut solo outing. The album leans heavily on tender lullabies, like the Laurel Canyon cool of lap-steel, light strings, and speckled acoustic guitar of "Maybe Not Tonight". Hansard alternates between the hushed intensity driven home by his brutally honest songwriting and the occasional fiery eruption fans have come to expect. Unfortunately, that eruptions are a little too occasional, as Hansard seems determined to make the album work without any of his trademark soaring anthems. Despite the tumbling drums and tease of feedback snarling guitar sparsely poking through "Talking With The Wolves" the lovelorn track is a sleepy listen weighed down by lifeless vocals and a muted sound.
It is not all bad news, as some of the album turning out beautifully. Fragile orchestral beauty "What Are We Gonna Do" finds The Swell Season's Marketa Irglova returning for a haunting duet rawly examining their relationship. Hansard begs, "I don't want to lose you to some bullshit hurt that could have been helped", as Irglova recalls, "I don't want to change you, but you're a long, long way from the path you came". The mellow piano and acoustic strum of "High Hope" finds Hansard working his way back to his woman for the most fiery chorus of the album. Still, tracks like the wordy piano ballad "Bird Of Sorrow, with the overstuffed verses and downtrodden quivering vocals, and humming organ and plucky piano of "Races" are tough listens that stumble lazily out of the speakers. The oddly creaky Van Morrision impression on "Love Don't Leave Me Waiting" and murky groan of "Philander" leave Hansard's disappointing solo debut far from what you expect, or want, from the normally engaging songwriter.
Seek - "Maybe Not Tonight", "What Are We Gonna Do", "High Hope"
For fans of - Damien Rice
If you like this, we think you'll also dig - Ed Harcourt: Lustre
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