Daniel Ahearn “I Will Take You Home”
lovely full length record (finally) from former Ill Lit frontman
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Daniel Ahearn was the voice behind the late and rather amazing Ill Lit but has branched out since on a solo adventure, his first couple of EPs receiving some lovely reviews back in 2008 and 2009. “Long Way Home” is his full length debut which expands on the “Midwestern” EP from 2009 and fleshes it out into something equally as compelling but altogether more substantial, with some beautiful flourishes in terms of the instrumentation and arrangements.
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This is a man who once said in an interview that he considered John Prine the greatest songwriter who’s ever lived and there are echoes of some of Prine’s looser moments throughout the record (such as “Born for Thee”) but elsewhere you can hear songs painted with broader strokes such as “Takes All Kinds” (Elton John – good early Elton John mind you), “Whitewashing” (Neal Casal) and “San Vincente” (er… Neal Casal again but with a male female harmony thing going on). It’s often very good but sometimes it’s sublime - “Rumours” is such a perfect song, so moving and so beautifully arranged that it really does confound you how Ahearn isn’t a better known name. Likewise the country-fied “Do Not Be Afraid” with its beautiful fiddle and optimistic outlook (“Should the night descend we’ll make fire again…”) works wonderfully. Those looking for the beeps and buzzes of Ill Lit might be disappointed but dive into the songs and the rewards are there in the depths.
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