The Frames
For The Birds

THE REVIEW

The Frames, led by singer and guitarist Glen Hansard, have long been one of the best-kept secrets of Ireland's music scene. After nearly a decade of activity, it was with the release of For the Birds (in 2001) that the group, initially an underground cult confined mostly to their homeland, became the subject of word-of-mouth capable of transcending the limits of patchy distribution.

Recorded between Cork and Chicago, this album features the participation of Rachel Grimes from Rachel's (her piano meditations on the instrumental In The Deep Shade open the CD in the best possible way), Craig Ward (as co-producer) and Steve Albini, whose presence is strongly felt in the guitar explosion of a track like Santa Maria. But even setting aside the presence of such guests, the Frames stand out particularly for an extremely varied songwriting ability. Alongside tracks of a more conventional format (the folk of Lay Me Down, or the electronically tinged folk of Fighting On The Stairs) there are pieces of uncommon intensity: the tear-jerker What Happens When The Heart Just Stops, the sweet lullaby of Giving Me Wings, and the eccentric Early Bird, with noise hints, lo-fi electronics, and a convulsive finale that blends all these elements; similarly, Glen Hansard's singing can go from the most reassuring whisper to a scream that calls upon all the air passing through his lungs (as happens, for example, in Headlong).

But beyond the emotions that this group manages to convey, it's in the booklet accompanying the CD that Glen Hansard sums up - better than any review - the essence of this album:

"The ultimate measure of success in this music lies in the ability of these people to give their manifold talents over to one single co-operative effort: the realisation of a dream about music which we continue to have and cherish"