Tim O’Brien – Two Journeys

Most great albums play like great novels — tightly woven pieces that come off as a whole by the time you are finished with them. Listening to Tim O’Brien’s newest endeavor, Two Journeys, is much like reading a wonderful epic.

The songs that make up this stunning collection are the stuff of an epic, after all. In what could be seen as a sequel to O’Brien’s 1999 classic The Crossing, which explored the connections between Celtic and Appalachian music, Two Journeys focuses much more on Ireland. The songs run the gamut from original compositions such as “For The Fallen” and “The Holy Well” (both sounding as ancient as ballads that might have been sung in Ireland ages ago) to more upbeat fare such as “Turning Around”, with its handclaps and joyful yet haunting fiddle, and “Me And Dirk’s Trip”, a fun song about a voyage on “a big air ship.”

There are too many good songs here to pick the best track. One of the best, however, is “Mick Ryan’s Lament”, a song from the viewpoint of a dead man who has left Ireland to find his dreams in America, only to be killed on the battlefields of the Civil War. O’Brien’s cover of “Norwegian Wood” reveals how much the Beatles were influenced by the heavy Irish population in Liverpool. The title track attempts to sum up the album’s theme, and the whole Irish experience, in just over four minutes.

Toe-tapping and chill-inducing instrumentals abound, but O’Brien is at his best when he is showing off his vocals as well as playing. His voice has never sounded better, and his material has never been more thoughtfully chosen.