Coming Home is the latest album by Ireland’s fabulous Cara Dillon. It came out already in February, but as is so customary of me, I only found time to really listen to it now in August.
My first reaction was “well this is decidedly not background music or sing-along stuff”. Compared to the airy singer- songwriter/folk stylings of her previous work, The Wanderer, all of seven years ago, Coming Home feels to me her most intricately and carefully planned album in her entire career. I may of course be wrong, but there is such a unique approach to music and storytelling here that I assume nothing on this album is there by accident.
The Wanderer was a concept album of sorts, with many songs dealing with leaving home and your country and literally wandering the face of the Earth. So, Coming Home seems a natural continuation or sequel. It’s actually more like a song cycle where the themes of close and extended family, family and local history and memories of people and places appear and repeat in various forms throughout the album. I may not be completely off track if I’m guessing that this is a very personal work for her.
Compared to its predecessor, it is also a very different audio experience. Every song opens with a spoken word poem that then extends and expands into the lyrics of the song, sometimes taking a different point of view than the one in the poem. It’s a brave strategy as it’s there throughout the entire album and the listener has to be aware of the message, the words, constantly.
The arrangements and the use of the studio are also more to the fore than they were on The Wanderer or any of her previous albums. There is a carefully crafted ambience that can be at times quite dense, even if the instrumentation is still sparse, with piano, acoustic guitar, acoustic bass and fiddle or cello backing her. The production is excellent.
The music, by her and Sam Lakeman as always, is so contemplative and even meditative on some tracks that I warmly recommend you not to listen to this when you’re tired or drowsy, as there are no adrenaline raising fast tunes here. The atmosphere almost reminds me of the title of Carl Jung’s biography: Memories, Dreams, Reflections.
This music can wrap itself around you, and you can immerse yourself in it, but only if you are willing and have the time and the peace to do it. As I said, this is not musical wallpaper at all.
Because of the introspective nature of the music, it did take me a couple of spins before I felt that I have accessed the essence of this work. It may help if you’re Irish yourself since there are probably a few details in the lyrics that require some familiarity with Ireland and Irish lore. Or even the wildlife; the song title Carrageen Moss obviously held some meaning that completely escaped me before I checked it out on Wikipedia. So not only is Coming Home artistically excellent and ambitious, it can be educational as well, it seems.
To sum up, I find this her most ambitious and fascinating work to date, considering the volume and the quality of her back catalog it’s quite an achievement. So I heartily recommend it, but please take your time with it – and make sure you are fully awake and aware when pressing play.
FolkNotes 