Label: ATO/Hoop Recordings/PIAS
Review by Luisa Mercier
Sophomore album for Lisa Hannigan. After seven years spent beside Damien Rice (both in public and private life), the singer decided to start her own solo career and released “Sea Sew” which showed all her talent as songwriter and front-woman. She used to sing only the choirs in Rice‘s records, while here she is allowed to shine and her first musical effort was even canditated to a Mercury Prize.
The present record, “Passenger”, is the evidence of a finally reached musical adult age, a mature album that is strongly connected to the folk of her homeland (Ireland and UK tradition) mixing it with pop influences. Listen to the single “Knots”, for example. Her voice is sweet, soft like velvet and flies over the instruments, the violin in “What I’ll Do” is perfectly matched with her, while in the acoustic ballad “O Sleep” is paired with Ray La Montagne in an inspiring duet.
In “Paper House” the splendid violin by Lucy Wilkins is perfect when it reaches its climax towards the end of the song. It is a classic record, there is no very much innovation, it shows how emotional Lisa can be and her elegance in choosing arrangements, so now we wait her third release to understand if she can really bring in something new to the indie scene.In the meanwhile let’s enjoy “Passenger”, a simple, soulful record for your quieter moments.
Rating – 75/100
Tracklist
- Home
- A Sail
- Knots
- What’ll I Do
- O Sleep
- Paper House
- Little Bird
- Passenger
- Safe Travels, (Don’t Die)
- Nowhere to Go
Line Up
- Lisa Hannigan – Vocals & Arrangements