An evocative, lyrical spate.
Liverpudlian songwriter Luke O’Hanlon describes his third solo album as an “emotionally honest folk record, created over two years, a personal mediation on grief, identity and change”. He has spent the two years well. “The River Only Flows One Way” has been self-recorded, and the DIY ethic just adds to the album’s charm. O’Hanlon’s restrained guitar playing is the foundation to most of the ten tracks, but he adds variety and depth with some welcome bass, drums, piano, inter alia.
What makes the tracks stand out is his skill as a songwriter. He doesn’t have the greatest of voices, but it’s good enough to deliver some clever phrases, rhyme and imagery. “A series of conversations with ghosts, elegies for past selves and meditations on what’s left when the smoke clears,” says O’Hanlon. Anyone who has lived a bit and has come to question the passage of time will relate to a lot of his narratives. He said, “he wants every song to feel lived-in and true, even if it’s messy”. Evidence again of two years well spent.
O’Hanlon recently mentioned his favourite track on the album was ‘Stevie’. He says it is his most personal and vulnerable song. “You/ I wanted you/ To be whole again/ To be fixed/ To be done/ Done with the heaviness/ Free from the weariness/ To have all the things you want”. It is a wonderful piece of music, mournful then defiant in the space of two verses. “Headphones and Stevie Nicks/ Kicked back against the pricks“. Indeed, the first four tracks are excellent, the remaining set more quirky, such as ‘Cold Black Stone’, an enjoyable, biblical-referencing Dylan-like folk song. “Hey there Judas what’s the craic/ I came to get my silver back”.
There are many fine songwriters in the UK, but it is pleasing to acknowledge Luke O’Hanlon. He deserves a listen and a wider audience.
