Glen Hansard
Between Two Shores
Release Date: Jan 19, 2018
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock
Record label: Anti-
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Album Review: Between Two Shores by Glen Hansard
Great, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 4.0/5
With Between Two Shores, Glen Hansard has crafted a heartfelt rock n' roll romance. That's not much of a surprise for an artist who's always preferred grand, emotional gestures—from his all-inclusive anthems with his band, the Frames, to the hushed intimacy of the songs from writer-director John Carney's Once, in which he starred. What's surprising is the album's quiet confidence and casual assurance.
Based on rating 8/10
I think everyone has one. A halcyon moment, or period of time in their formative years during which it feels like music truly means something. Of course, to many people this moment never ends and music will always have a special place in their heart. But a lot of people look back to particular songs or albums which truly did, indeed, form them, their listening patterns and practices and, more than that, set something of the course of their life.
Based on rating 8/10
Along with 2012's Rhythm and Repose and 2015's Didn't He Ramble, singer-songwriter Glen Hansard completes something of a low-key folk trilogy with Between Two Shores. This record from the former Frames frontman and Swell Season collaborator is a post-mortem of a failed relationship, and the thematic in-betweenness here makes it hard to pinpoint where on the emotional reckoning spectrum Hansard landed when he holed up in the recording studio. Early stage and angry? On "Your Heart's Not In It," he sings: "Stop turning your back on me ….
Based on rating 7/10
Emotion has always been at the heart of Glen Hansard's music, as he uses his songs to express his feelings about life's multiple sorrows and sustaining joys. So it makes sense that he would make an album that found room for some potent soul and R&B influences along with his traditional brand of indie folk. 2018's Between Two Shores is very much a Glen Hansard album, but the use of horns and keyboards on these sessions give the material a noticeably more soulful feel, and Hansard's vocals push the emotional envelope harder than he has in the past.
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