Forever a busker, Glen Hansard is known for his crackly folk sound and empathetic croon. His newest album All That Was East Is West of Me Now totes a darker tone.
All That Was East Is West of Me Now, which was released on Oct. 20th, is Glen Hansard’s fifth studio album. It is comprised of nine songs and is 42 minutes in total.
“The Feast of St. John,” the first track on the album, swims the murky depths of Hansard’s stormy new electric folk-rock sound. Departing from what used to be his staple—raw, stripped-back acoustic guitar—Hansard tries his hand at a darker-sounding electric guitar to structure his opening track around. The rhythm, while fairly simple, is heavy on the snare. Opting for what sounds like a brush rather than a stick, Earl Harvin’s percussion sounds more like a harsh rainstorm battering against your window rather than a hard-hitting drum beat.
In “There’s No Mountain,” the third song on the album, Hansard takes acoustic guitar in a new direction. Unlike when he plays “When Your Mind’s Made Up,” one of the singer’s most popular ballads, there is no room for breaking strings. Comprised of gentle piano, bristling snare and the deep thrum of the stand-up bass, “There’s No Mountain” is a softer take on the sound that made him so popular. Each element works together melodically to produce a song that feels like a warm hug.
Hansard said this about the song on his Instagram account:
“Where there’s a mountain, there’s a valley, where there is light, there is a shadow, these are natural laws, if we live dynamically, we’ll meet all weather, life is a great adventure, not always a walk in the park.”
“There’s No Mountain” reminds the listener that when life gets hard, it’s okay to need a friend to lean on. Together, you can scale all kinds of mountains and do all kinds of hard things. That’s what friends are for.
Hansard keeps this trajectory of sound going with “Ghost,” the sixth song on the record. Opening up with a haunting piano line, the singer leans into his lower register for the first verse. But after the first chorus, Hansard easily maneuvers into an impressive falsetto.
Starting with the lyrics “There’s a ghost in the house / Can you feel it,” Hansard uses a metaphor to suggest that the partner he describes in the song is emotionally unavailable. Like a ghost, they are never truly seen and never fully present. The next line “It moves around when you’re asleep,” elaborates on this metaphor, showcasing that his partner is actually a ghost, becoming someone he doesn’t recognize. The person he loves is going to “sleep,” only to be replaced by someone else.
This is only furthered by the lyrics “There’s a ghost in your mouth / I can taste it / A thing you’d rather not talk about.” Hansard suggests that the factor that is pulling them apart is also ghost-like; it is something that frightens him, ever-present, without ever being seen or discussed. Always on the tip of his partner’s tongue.
“Ghost” is a haunting ballad that unpacks what it means to be in a relationship with someone emotionally unavailable, continuing to push on in the face of complete uncertainty about where the connection might go.
The album wraps up with “Reprise” which, like a handful of other songs on the album, simply won’t make it past a first listen. As usual, when a Glen Hansard song is good, it’s good. But when it isn’t, it simply isn’t worth the time of day.
All That Was East is West Of Me Now is an interesting new direction for the bright-eyed balladeer, a more mature sound for a more mature man. But unfortunately, it seems to lack the same type of bursting feeling and energy that made his past albums so memorable.