Age of Apathy by Aoife O'Donovan

 Age of Apathy is th title of Aoife O'Donovan's upcoming record. It is produced by Joe. 

The album will be released on January 21, 2022 

Produced by fellow GRAMMY-winner Joe Henry (Bonnie Raitt, Rhiannon Giddens) and featuring guest appearances from Allison Russell and Madison Cunningham, Age Of Apathy finds O’Donovan’s gift for poetic imagery and unconventionally alluring melody in full bloom as she confronts the sense-dulling barrage of the digital age. Amid symphonic arrangements that reveal a stunning mastery of her craft, Aoife puts forth a statement of defiance and radical love — one that reaffirms her as one of our most vital songwriters today.

O’Donovan recorded Age Of Apathy through a unique arrangement with Full Sail University in Winter Park, FL, logging daily hours on-site at their studio with GRAMMY-nominated engineer Darren Schneider (Deep Purple, Koryn Hawthorne, Trivium) - who also mixed the album - all the while collaborating entirely remotely with Henry. While her previous albums were composed and recorded in an adrenalized rush between tours, the creation of Age Of Apathy was more deliberate and methodical — a rare silver lining amid the stillness of COVID living.

O’Donovan found the routine freeing. Remote collaborations — particularly with bassist David Piltch and drummer Jay Bellerose — introduced unexpected rhythms and textures into the architecture of the songs, allowing O’Donovan to bend her sound into more expansive shapes. And with the expert guidance of Joe Henry, she was able to develop the dreamy, richly orchestrated — but never overwrought — soundworld that gives Age Of Apathy its distinct and enveloping aesthetic. (aoifeodonovan.bandcamp.com)

 Listen to a wonderful version of 'Prodigal daughter' eaturing Allison Russell. 

You are the Hero of your own History !

Let me start with saying : "Happy birthday Allison Russell !"
Off course I listened to your album, and I would like to share you my experience. 

 

I am (again) in awe with your music. Off course the music is powerful, these are all great songs, but this album is about so much more, and carries a heavier and more important role on a spiritual level. 

The album is announced as your first solo-album, and mathematically this is of course correct. But I don't see it like that. It diminishes the importance of it all. I don't believe you simply decided that you were going to make a first solo album, and this is the result. I think it is more accurate to say that an entire life,  a period of horror, and the way out decided for you that this needed to be done. It just had to be made, and it could only be done by you. A long hard road to suck out the poison like you wrote in the liner notes. 

I dry-read the lyrics, and I think I'll try to avoid to do that again. Without the music, these words are not 1 but 10 punches in the stomach. I can only sit in silence,.... 

The A-side of the record was the easy part. I'm a listener. I hear the stories surrounded by your musical style I know from 'Birds of Chicago'. 

And then I flip the record to the B-side and 'Hy-Brasil' hypnotises me and its repetitive, meditative flow leads me down the stairs. It feels like I don't want to, but there is no way back... With 'All of the women' I felt as if witnessing the moment, the ritual, the sucking out of the Poison. 

And then live has to go on. It is what 'Poison Arrow' tells me. 

Je te souhaîte la paix
Je te souhaîte l'acceptance
Je te souhaîte une deuxième chance

Et le coeur d'un enfant
Routier! Routier!
Chanter! Chanter!

L'heure des miracles est arrivée
Le poison peut-être médecin
Si t'en bois une goute seulement

The album ends with a message for us all, we 'Joyful Motherfuckers'. Let us open up our hearts.  

This album is one of those that gives me what I search in music. It's an invitation to be engaged. Be an active listener, be an active person. Live life!

It is an amazing album on so many levels. Musically and spiritual far beyond what we humans ever can put in to words. You can be proud of this. You are the Hero of your own History !

Hugs and Love,
Stefan