The latest album by this sweet-voiced Irish singer songwriter was recorded at Skinny Elephant Studios in Nashville and produced by Neilson Hubbard.
The opening song, Live A Little Lie Oh, is all about finding one’s true identity. In keeping with this theme, O’Neill tries on a number of personas in these eleven tunes. “I was intrigued by the concept of everyone having a different version of their truth.” The problem is none of the metaphorical hats she wears quite seem to fit.
Her warm, inclusive voice encourages empathy but she doesn’t shed enough light on the shadows of sadness than pervade her songs. For instance, Leaving is about a woman rejecting a quiet conventional life for something new but you never find out where or why this drama is occurring.
In You're Not Gonna Leave Me Honey, O’Neill is unconvincing as a domineering femme fatale and the bluesy mood of Midweek Magic Club is nowhere near smoky enough. Messy Path is a cross between a slow country lament and Joni Mitchell’s Circle Game.
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She sings “I am like a feather floating on a breeze” in Ask Me In A Year and, in the closing song - Pilot's Weather - the key line is “Even when I take a chance, sometimes I’m neither here nor there.”
These lyrics sum up my feelings about the album. The melodies float serenely enough but the lack of specificity means the songs have a frustratingly anonymous quality.
Brigid O’Neill’s website
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