Review Summary: The world waits before us, come dance with me.
The Glen Hansard of 2023 sounds weary. He possesses the gruff croon of a man who's weathered more than his share of storms. The days of him being a bright-eyed balladeer seem much longer ago than 2018, and that's thanks in large part to
This Wild Willing – a beautifully dark and hour long opus which acted as something of a ravine in his discography. It's a sensation captured within the title of his fifth record:
All That Was East Is West Of Me Now. Contained within this new album is the sound of a man who, in many respects, has left his old life behind in pursuit of new mountains to climb. Just last year, he became a first time father at the age of fifty-two. Hansard's newfound perspective serves as a creative driving force, with the overarching atmosphere painting an image of utter existential urgency. On the album's final track (discounting the fifty-eight second 'Reprise'), Glen sings "We only get so much time at the wheel...There'll be no going back this time, don't throw it away." Between bringing new life into the world and staring down the second act of his own story, such passages – and the album's wordy title – could also be seen as something much bigger than a mere observation of his discography: time is passing quickly, and before any of us know it, we will be looking at our pasts as the majority portion of our lives. It's a sobering realization.
As such,
All That Was East Is West Of Me Now cuts to the chase. At forty-two minutes, it's significantly trimmed down compared to
This Wild Willing, where bloat was the only obstacle to perfection. While this record doesn't experiment quite on the level of its predecessor, what it loses in creative grandeur it makes up for in consistent songwriting and subtly brilliant lyrics. These songs may feel simpler, but they're no less impactful. 'The Feast Of St. John' crashes in like waves on a rocky shore, as Hansard's bitter croons cut through the track's dense, riff-driven fog with critical observations of a society eager to tear each other down rather than work together: "See a man of good standing pushed to the ground, and his lover attending and her arms all around / Muster, muster to the depths of your soul, and don't go drowning when they drag you down in the hollow / Let them circle, let them hover / They all deserve one another." Immediately on its heels is 'Down On Our Knees', which is a melodic rocker that views our whole world through a fiery, apocalyptic lens: "Death knells are tolling, seven seals are broken open / The end is nigh, blood streaked across the sky"..."Pandemic, famine, war, privation, mass migration / Four horsemen riding, knights of the apocalypse"..."We all go down on our knees." Elsewhere, we get relational desperation in the exasperated 'Ghost' ("There's a ghost in the house, can you believe it? Well, you ought to know, you brought it home") and the heartwrenching morbidity of the fantastic curtain-call, 'Short Life' ("It's a dangerous lie, that we've got endless time"). By and large,
All That Was East Is West Of Me Now harnesses the fear that comes with middle age and channels it into passion.
Even amid all of the doom-and-gloom, however, there are rays of optimism bending their way around and through the darkness. 'Sure As The Rain' initially comes across as a hauntingly tragic ballad – like slow dancing in the ashes of the aforementioned apocalypse – only to recognize that the only thing that ever mattered was love: "The better part of everything is you / The world waits before us, come dance with me." 'Bearing Witness' and especially 'There's No Mountain' are two of the most uplifting songs to come out of Hansard's canon, with memorable passages like "It's not what you're given, but what you do with it", "If it comes to blows take it all on the chin, there’s no worthier fight", and "There’s no mountain worth its salt gonna be easy to climb" serving as axioms to live by. Even in Hansard's inherently bleak songwriting, there's always a message of hope to be found: where love is strained, mend it; when time is limited, seize it; if life is ending, start a new one. The most rewarding aspect of Glen Hansard's music is the life-altering meaning the can be gleaned from just about any moment. He's always been a strong lyricist, sure, but between 2019's
This Wild Willing and 2023's
All That Was East Is West Of Me Now, he has seemingly reached a poetic zenith. Paired with a more rugged/coarse musical approach than his acoustic troubadour days, every line tends to ring out with a sense of unparalleled, down-to-earth beauty. It's melancholic and often mournful, but thanks to Hansard's ability to spin even the most daunting situations as an opportunity to rise to the challenge, his music has also never sounded this
full of both life and meaning. The world awaits...will you dance with it?
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