Off The Tracks

Off The Tracks
  • Blog
    • Interviews
    • Miscellany
    • Special Guests
    • Reviews
  • Podcasts
  • The Vinyl Countdown
  • Back Catalogue
  • About
    • About
    • About the banner image
    • On Song
    • Advertise
November 2, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Aoife O’Donovan: In The Magic Hour Solo Sessions (ep)

Aoife O’Donovan

In The Magic Hour Solo Sessions (ep)

Yep Roc Records

Aoife O’Donovan’s 2016 album In The Magic Hour was one of the best of that year for me – easily. As is the case when O’Donovan records – she makes magic. But here on an EP of the stripped back solo sessions from that album  we get a new kind of magic. Just her voice and acoustic guitar; embryonic song-shapes and a couple of covers of very well known songs by very famous writers.

When O’Donovan sings she is without peer. Well, if you’re going to reach for one name – and it comes up every time and with good reason – it’s going to be Alison Krauss. That association/comparison started when Krauss covered a song by the former Crooked Still writer/singer.

So it’s a joy to just hear O’Donovan’s voice backed by simple guitar on the stripped-back version of Magic Hour and on the acoustic rendition of The King of All Birds we hear a Suzanne Vega-like quality in the writing and shaping of the song.

Stanley Park, which opened the original album in a broad cinematic sweep, all widescreen and nearly overwhelming in its sonic beauty, is here just voice and guitar and somehow nothing is lost. It’s still a mercurial mini-epic.

But let’s get to the covers  – probably the real reason to get hold of this EP. First up it’s Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska. So it’s peak-Boss, in terms of the writing, and there’s something particularly beautiful about Aoife’s version. Her voice soars yet the narrative of the song is neither lost nor glossed over. There’s an extra clarity in this version.

The same is true when O’Donovan takes on a very well-known Joni Mitchell tune. You Turn Me On, I’m A Radio has never been one of my personal favourite Mitchell songs, something about the pleased-with-itself silly-clanger pun-title has always bugged me. And Joni almost over-sings as she stretches the melody lines when she sings, “From ‘Breakfast Barney’/To the sign-off prayer/What a sorry face you get to wear/I’m gonna tell you again now/If you’re still listening there/If you’re driving into town….” I wonder if it’s the slightly hokey country-rock arrangement.

Anyway, in a respectful, laid-back ,windswept version Aoife O’Donovan frames the lyric with slow, plaintive strumming and the very simple, evocative use of gentle but obvious chord changes. She’s nowhere near Joni as a guitarist, and knows it, so she takes the song in a slightly new direction but singing it without a smile; the earnest delivery allows me to ignore the daft wordplay and focus on the great story that is being told within this extended metaphor.

That’s the great strength of Aoife O’Donovan as a writer of her own material and as a singer – she sells you the story, she makes you believe. How could you not when you hear that voice?

As a snapshot this EP of acoustic sessions will turn you on to a great talent if you haven’t already heard her. It’ll make you a fan anew. And there’s plenty here inside just 20 minutes for those of us already confirmed and waiting for any new material at all from this great singer.
You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron

 

Posted in Blog, Reviews and tagged with Acoustic, Album Review, Aoife O'Donovan, Aoife O’Donovan: In The Magic Hour Solo Sessions (ep), Bruce Springsteen, Covers, Crooked Still, EP, In The Magic Hour, In The Magic Hour Solo Sessions, In The Magic Hour Solo Sessions (ep), Joni Mitchell, Nebraska, Yep Roc Records, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron, You Turn Me On I'm A Radio. RSS 2.0 feed.
« Stubs: # 238 – The Shot Band + Guests, Wellington, 2011
Dylan Jones: The Wichita Lineman – Searching In The Sun For The World’s Greatest Unfinished Song »

One Response to Aoife O’Donovan: In The Magic Hour Solo Sessions (ep)

  1. Pingback: The Albums I Loved The Most in 2019

Popular

  • Janna Lapidus Leblanc: Four Years In Pictures
  • The Sad Story of Bob Welch: Fleetwood Mac’s Most Undervalued Member
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 8 – Mark Knopfler
  • Poem: Dear Ngā Mihi,
  • Bill And Ted Face The Music: DVD
  • James Blunt: How To Be A Complete and Utter Blunt – Diary of a Reluctant Social Media Sensation
  • Revisiting Live at Knebworth (1990)
  • The Best Guitarist in The World: # 11 – Lindsey Buckingham
  • Willie Nelson: That’s Life
  • Sweetman Podcast # 247: Talia Marshall

Archives

Tags

Album Review Auckland Book Book Review Chat Compilation DJ DVD DVD Review EP Film Film Review Gig Gig Review Guest Blog Guitar Interview Jazz Jon Mcleary Live Live Gig LP Movie Music NZ Podcast Poem Record Records Simon Sweetman Soundtrack Spines Spotify Stub Stubs Sweetman Podcast The Ghost of Electricity The Spines The Vinyl Countdown Vinyl Wellington Wgtn Writing You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron [OST]

Categories

  • Back Catalogue
  • Blog
  • Interviews
  • Miscellany
  • Mixtapes
  • Playlists
  • Podcasts
  • Reviews
  • Scene Of The Day
  • Special Guests
  • The Vinyl Countdown

Off The Tracks is the home of Sweetman Podcast, a weekly interview/chat-based pod. It's also home to my reviews across film, TV, music and books and some creative writing as well.

Off The Tracks aims to provide quality reviews and essays, regular blog updates about the shows, albums, books and movies you should be experiencing.

It's a passion project. Your support will help to keep Off The Tracks online.

All content © 2021 by Off The Tracks. WordPress Themes by Graph Paper Press