The principle behind this Danish singer-songwriter's ambitious triple album is a belief that there are three sides to all of his songs. These strands, M.C.Hansen sums up as "the part I understand, the part I make up and the part I didn't know existed." and represent different aspects of his personality while documenting a growing maturity and wisdom.
Lyrically, the songs reflect Hansen's thoughts and experiences as a travelling musician, a kind of musical diary taken from seven years on the road dating from 2003.
Often he expresses doubt, dissatisfaction and disorientation as on the track called In The Eyes Of Those I Love where he sings: I don't know what I am, but certain that I'm not going back to Denmark a patriot"
True to his nomadic existence, the album was recorded in three different places with three different bands. In other words, even when the song remains the same, the altered arrangements chart subtle, yet significant, mood changes.
There are twenty-six tracks in total but many of the songs appear on each disc. Only two songs appear in just one version.
I think it could have been interesting to have exactly the same tracks in the same order on all three discs although I can understand how logistically and stylistically this may have been difficult.
Disc one is all acoustic with a quaint old timey country feel. It was recorded at Pleasantry Lane studios in Dallas, Texas and features traditional instruments such as mandolin, pedal steel, dobro and fiddle.
For disc two Hansen plugs in with his own three-piece band of Danes who back the singer on bass, drums and electric guitar. Despite this classic rock line up, the strong emphasis on melody means the tracks sound every bit as gentle as on the first disc.
In the album sleeve notes M.C.Hansen writes "my band is a jazz band but we do the best we can to keep it a secret". This secret is partially blown when Uffe Steen sets aside his guitar to play clarinet on Hope and plays a very jazzy solo guitar on Letter To My Mailbox. For this disc, everything was recorded live with no overdubs in a favourite club venue of theirs (without an audience) in Frederica, Denmark.
|
The third is,at 38 minutes, the shortest of the discs but is, in my opinion, the best. This was also recorded in Denmark (at the Island of Møn) although producer Rip Rowan is the same as for the Dallas disc.
This takes Hansen away from his comfort zone and substitutes a somewhat didactic tone for a calmer, more introspective quality. This is heard to best effect on the curiously titled Fields With Army Haircuts where Hansen sings of finding a connectedness with nature that teaches him to recognise when to reap, to sow and when to let go.
Crucial to creating this elegant, muted atmosphere is the contribution of Nikolaj Busk who helps brings a more ambient, even spiritual, dimension to the tunes by beautiful playing on piano, accordion and glockenspiel.
M.C Hansen's voice often has a similar tonal to Mountain Goat, John Darnielle and, despite a tendency towards being over-intense and humourless, this album is both an interesting concept and a fine set of songs.
M.C. Hansen's website
|
