i will love you at all - darren hanlon

i will love you at all

another brilliant album from the talents of darren hanlon, nomad folksinger, friendly, funny and engaging performer. none of his albums have disappointed me, in fact all have floored me with their excellent lyrics and toons. the harmonies are amazing and i mostly choose to sing those (loudly in the car). he plays guitar and banjo and a ukelele.

a highlight of the new album is the magnificently beautiful scenes from a separation, which chronicles the demise of a relationship:

we earmarked our august vacation as a fine place to fall apart
and we heard that a trial separation was a quaint idea for a new start
then the city approached like a bandit
my hands shook as they gripped the wheel
as if i'd aways known there's no place like home
to show you the way that you feel

this bit doesn't really come across fully when prosaically written, but it rolls and repeats and is lovely in song:

you offer two corners of the sheet we fold over and over and over again and then in the middle we meet.

and the song's also funny (bittersweet funny):

right now i'm watching a drummer
haul his drums into a bar
and deep down i'm secretly happy
that i play the harmonica
no i'm not saying i'm lazy
i just take more time to digress
and i've more than three ways i empty my days
now that you're not around to impress

butterfly bones for the opening line of the whole album:

when one year ends and another begins and the sky is a shower of sparks
with your skinny girl arms with their hairs on their ends like exclamation marks

folk insommnia for the following:

but i grew up in a big hurry
and then one day i start to worry
that i am gonna be a goner
before i read all the books i wanna
and if i plant a tree now it'll be fully grown
long after i'm just dust and bone

...

so i'll just plant a tree i'll never see grow
put a seed in the ground where no one will know
gonna make my plan when the morning breaks
but i just don't know how long it'll take

i went to his instore at polyester records in the city a couple of weeks ago which was an intimate and hilarious gig. then last friday (the 20th) it was the offical launch of the new record at the delightfully gaudy and ostentatious thornbury theatre. the place was packed. i was so impressed with his drummer sarah who didn't really know some of his earlier songs, but just had a bash and really gave the already fantastic song (there aren't enough songs about) squash a new oomph. and i laughed my way through the song-in-a-day number 17 about not catching a bus (and the girls' hand claps especially).

watch this video clip.

darren lives here