Lisa Hannigan – Passenger
Written by Tiffiny // September 20, 2011 // Features, Records // 3 Comments
The first word that comes to mind when I listen to Lisa Hannigan‘s Passenger is lush. It is housed within somber ballads marked by a phenomenal vocal performance. Hannigan uses her voice as an instrument. It carries the album like a string section, dipping and soaring, bursting with passion.
“A Sail” is the song that ran away with my heart. I’ve listened to it on repeat pretty excessively. It will be on my end of the year list. The song starts with a moody bass line that sets the tone for a dark, lovely track. It has the dreary, unsettling feeling of a dark, rainy day- almost aching.
“Knots” is like a force of nature; a crazy night narrated by a whirlwind of fiddle and stomping while “Paper House” is a gorgeous, floating bit of nostalgia. I am utterly charmed by “Safe Travels (Don’t Die)”- the wordy folk song comes across like a dark lullaby.
I recently made a list of my favorite duets (which already includes two featuring Lisa Hannigan), and here’s another one. Ray Lamontagne provides the other half of the dreamy track, “O Sleep”. Lamontagne’s satiny vocals are a perfect compliment to Lisa’s smokey delivery.
Passenger sees Lisa Hannigan become a confident, creative artist- a worthy second album for someone with the brightest of futures.
Add to Google
3 Comments on "Lisa Hannigan – Passenger"
I like the album a lot (obviously), but there are times – like in Home, A Sail, Knots, and Paper House – when it sounds like she’s holding back, vocally. I’m just waiting for those big, broken notes that we get at her live shows, but they never comes. She sounds so restrained on the album.
I guess there’s not a sound engineer in the industry today who has figured out how to capture in a studio what her voice sounds like live.
Trackbacks for this post