Glen Hansard recorded this in lakeside rooms in northern Italy and back home in Dublin with producer David Odlum, and the album carries that sense of distance travelled. The songs are built on acoustic guitar and voice, but they stretch out rather than stay compact. Strings appear, then recede. Tempos shift mid-track. "Down On Our Knees" opens with fingerpicked arpeggios before drums and electric guitar push it into something wider and more insistent.
Hansard's voice still has that worn, urgent quality, think Jeff Buckley's intensity without the high register. The production leaves space around the instruments. You hear room tone, the scrape of fingers on strings, the decay of a piano note. "Ghost" is mostly voice and piano until it isn't. "Bearing Witness" builds slowly, almost reluctantly, into a full band arrangement. Bob Ludwig's mastering keeps the dynamic range intact, so the quiet moments stay quiet.
This will suit people who liked Hansard's work in The Frames or the Once soundtrack, but it's less immediate than either. The songs take their time. Some listeners will find that patient; others will find it unresolved. If you want verse-chorus-verse and out, look elsewhere.
