The winner of an Oscar and a Grammy via the film and musical Once, former busker Glen Hansard seems to have the knack of circumventing cynicism. His folk rock and acoustic soul mannerisms owe a huge, admitted, debt to Van Morrison and Bob Dylan, but he delivers his plaintive songs of love and doubt with such sincerity and negation of ego that you’d need a heart of granite not to get swept up in the feel. He isn’t doing anything here that he hasn’t done with The Frames or the Swell Season, yet from embarkation to journey’s end this third solo record floats and cruises on a blend of commitment and composure akin to Side 2 of Springsteen’s The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle.
Unfeigned and irresistible.
