Behind the Lens

MUSIC
MUSIC
Glen Hansard
Didn’t He Ramble
Anti-, LP or CD
o matter the season, autumn’s brooding skies
hang overhead in Glen Hansard’s world.
Then again, the singer, songwriter, and actor
(The Commitments, Once) hails from Ireland,
a country of serious bards (Joyce and Van
Morrison) and rainy atmospheres. This dark
soulfulness has always colored Hansard’s
music, be it with the Dublin-based Frames or
NOscar-winning duo the Swell Season.
And plenty of dark clouds dot
his second solo album, Didn’t He
Ramble. But Hansard lightens the
proceedings with a few downright
upbeat numbers. On the folk-pop
outing “Winning Streak,” a tune that
sounds like a sequel to Bob Dylan’s
advice manifesto “Forever Young,”
he wishes good luck to a pal. The
beautifully rendered “Her Mercy”
begins as a spare rhythm-andblues
number filled with moody
organ drones before a horn section
rises from the ether. Soon enough,
the track achieves lift-off into a
gospel shout. It’s beautiful and
uplifting, akin to a sparkling lost
take from The Last Waltz.
The 45-year-old veteran is
aided and abetted throughout
by a crack team of backing
musicians versatile in soul, jazz,
folk and blues. But even when
the world-class band fires on all
cylinders, the mood remains
restrained. Didn’t He Ramble is
filled with terrific arrangements
of the less-is-more school of
production. The nostalgic and
pensive “McCormack’s Wall”
showcases the singer in a mostly
spare setting, emoting over echoladen
piano chords and scraped
fiddle. The clanking and raw
“Lowly Deserter” unfolds like a
New Orleans funeral march via
smacked cymbals and bleating
horns.
Hansard proves an intimate
singer, his scratchy tone stained
with a patina of melancholy that
drenches even the happiest of
numbers. It’s a voice custombuilt
for darker, conflicted fare.
“There’s not much joy in the
work/Unless you’re born to do
what they say,” he sings on the
working-man’s lament “Paying
My Way.” Like Merle Haggard
and Shane MacGowan, fellow
chroniclers of the down and
out, Hansard possesses a
sharp sense when it comes to
expressing the complicated mix
of dashed dreams, anguish, and
pride residing in the hearts of
working-class heroes.
Holding his own against an
impressive beat and layered
instrumentation, he’s equally
compelling when the vibe is
so up close and personal, you
can hear fingernails scraping
on steel guitar strings. “I’m at
your side if you didn’t know,” he
intones on the album’s finale,
“Stay the Road.” Understated
and bittersweet, it’s just the right
dose of low-key cheerleading
to steel the listener for a world
filled with gray skies.
—Chrissie Dickinson
36 TONE AUDIO NO.75
November 2015 37