All That Was East Is West of Me Now by Glen Hansard
Some artistic works feel like culminations of the artist’s life rather than mere continuations of it; in other, morbid words, they could serve as epitaphs should the artist die tomorrow, rather than chapters in unfinished books.
Irish singer-songwriter Glen Hansard is only up to his fifth solo album, but All That Was East Is West of Me Now seems to draw weight from his status as frontman for the rock band the Frames and his partnership with Czech singer-songwriter Markéta Irglová in the Swell Season. And, of course, the title acknowledges that he’s seen more sunsets than he’s going to see.
The acknowledgement infiltrates Hansard’s voice when he favors his lower register: “Down on Our Knees” brings him close to Richard Thompson’s sternness as he narrates a rock-folk litany of faith and its depredations, while he wants it darker a la Leonard Cohen in “Sure as the Rain,” a French-steeped love ballad illuminated flickeringly by tubular bells, theremin, and strings.
In his more tuneful middle range on the elegantly foursquare and faintly Dire Straitsian “Bearing Witness,” Hansard comes across as a less strident scion of Cat Stevens, and he earns both a paraphrasing of the tragic Jackson C. Frank’s “Blues Run the Game” and an honorable comparison to Van Morrison on the lessons-learned folk-pop soulfulness of “There’s No Mountain.”
As Hansard measures himself against those predecessors, he huddles with familiar colleagues, including Frames alumnus David Odlum as producer and other Frames personnel, including bassist Joseph Doyle and drummer Dave Hingerty, as accompanists attuned to his desires to let some edges stay rough and some surfaces stay unpolished.
Hansard isn’t sloppy, though: the minute-long, wordless ending of “Reprise” is just as thoughtfully crafted as the tastefully intense sadness of “Between Us There Is Music.” This is a beautiful and unsettled culmination that nevertheless makes it good to know that All That Was is likely not all there will be.
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Stream or download All That Was East Is West of Me Now on Amazon here.
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