If
you think that after all these years there's nothing Shane Howard
can do in music to surprise you, you're mistaken. The entire character
of 'Beyond Hope's Dream' is something or a surprise. I think I could
play it to most Shane Howard fans and it would take them a little
time to work out that it is in fact Shane. Some would need to be
told. Why? Shane has adopted a different tone on this record. Maybe
it's just the home studio the album was recorded in. Maybe it's
just the space in time he's in right now. Maybe it's more complicated.
What's not there? That familiar Goanna 'sound'. Backtracking a little,
the last solo Shane Howard album, 'Clan', saw him straddling two
worlds; Australia the he grew up in, loves and writes about so powerfully;
and Ireland, the country the Howard clan (and a lot of Australia's
early settlers) came from, the country which had recently 'discovered'
and recognized Shane Howard. The 'Clan' album was a fascinating
portrait of Shane and Australia's cultural dichotomy. Shane then
financed a Goanna 'comeback' album which sank without trace. Both
records have probably led Shane towards the album he has now recorded.
And perhaps for the first time he's allowed the Bob Dylan influence
to shine naked through his work. Think of the 'Oh Mercy' Dylan though.
On this record we find none of those storytelling pictures of Australia
we're used to from Shane, although there are personal Australian
reference points, (like 'Fitzroy River' in the opening 'This Old
World'), and the Australian/Irishness manifests itself in two traditional
songs - one remembering Dan and "Edward" Kelly, and the other ('No
Conneries') a poetic lament about being sent to New South Wales
as convicts. Matt McGuinn's one and a half minute 'Deep In My Heart'
finds Shane 'a cappella' accompanied only by a simple rythmic pounding.
If the truth be known the rest of the album, all written by Shane
('Simple Things' with Kev Carmody) come from what's "deep In the
heart" of Shane Howard. There's an air of resignation about this
album. For once Shane isn't trying to change the world, but accepting
of it, although he's obviously not completely happy about everything
he sees and feels. He might even be telling us that his life in
music has come at a personal price. Shane's reflective, melancholy
tone throughout the album is accompanied by the barest accompaniment
- an acoustic guitar, flute, occasional female harmonies - nothing
to drown out the main focus of this record, Shane Howard as singer
and songwriter, taking a new approach, going boldly where he hasn't
gone before. 'Beyond Hope's Bridge' is one of Shane Howard's finest
achievements on record. But it isn't the record we might have expected
to hear.
If
you think that after all these years there's nothing Shane Howard
can do in music to surprise you, you're mistaken. The entire character
of 'Beyond Hope's Dream' is something or a surprise. I think I could
play it to most Shane Howard fans and it would take them a little
time to work out that it is in fact Shane. Some would need to be
told. Why? Shane has adopted a different tone on this record. Maybe
it's just the home studio the album was recorded in. Maybe it's
just the space in time he's in right now. Maybe it's more complicated.
What's not there? That familiar Goanna 'sound'. Backtracking a little,
the last solo Shane Howard album, 'Clan', saw him straddling two
worlds; Australia the he grew up in, loves and writes about so powerfully;
and Ireland, the country the Howard clan (and a lot of Australia's
early settlers) came from, the country which had recently 'discovered'
and recognized Shane Howard. The 'Clan' album was a fascinating
portrait of Shane and Australia's cultural dichotomy. Shane then
financed a Goanna 'comeback' album which sank without trace. Both
records have probably led Shane towards the album he has now recorded.
And perhaps for the first time he's allowed the Bob Dylan influence
to shine naked through his work. Think of the 'Oh Mercy' Dylan though.
On this record we find none of those storytelling pictures of Australia
we're used to from Shane, although there are personal Australian
reference points, (like 'Fitzroy River' in the opening 'This Old
World'), and the Australian/Irishness manifests itself in two traditional
songs - one remembering Dan and "Edward" Kelly, and the other ('No
Conneries') a poetic lament about being sent to New South Wales
as convicts. Matt McGuinn's one and a half minute 'Deep In My Heart'
finds Shane 'a cappella' accompanied only by a simple rythmic pounding.
If the truth be known the rest of the album, all written by Shane
('Simple Things' with Kev Carmody) come from what's "deep In the
heart" of Shane Howard. There's an air of resignation about this
album. For once Shane isn't trying to change the world, but accepting
of it, although he's obviously not completely happy about everything
he sees and feels. He might even be telling us that his life in
music has come at a personal price. Shane's reflective, melancholy
tone throughout the album is accompanied by the barest accompaniment
- an acoustic guitar, flute, occasional female harmonies - nothing
to drown out the main focus of this record, Shane Howard as singer
and songwriter, taking a new approach, going boldly where he hasn't
gone before. 'Beyond Hope's Bridge' is one of Shane Howard's finest
achievements on record. But it isn't the record we might have expected
to hear.