It is a certain kind of cathartic to see an artist returning to himself, and Joe Hodgson and his album Fields Of Redemption is precisely that: the musical homecoming of an artist that is felt way beyond the Northern Irish borders. It is not just another guitar album; it is a soul searching journey with some of the most touching six-string playing you will hear all year.
As soon as The Grass Is Greener begins with its towering guitar work, you are in the realm of Hodgson, where knowledgeable prog-rock music is coupled with naked emotional candor. His Gibson Les Paul turns into a narrating tool, which creates stories that words would never be able to. The technical prowess is evident in jazz-inflected complexity of the song, Shapeshifting, but it is the soul-wrenching emotion of songs such as Since You Had A Hold On Me that makes this album so special.
What impresses me is the ease at which Hodgson intertwines genres without ever sounding disjointed. The heavy riffs of Losing It fit well with the intimate folk vibe of The Ballad Of Joe Clarke, and the album is a tight ride that reflects his journey back to the land of his Irish ancestors through the music scene of London. The incorporation of the Czech Philharmonic contributes the grandiosity of the orchestra that takes some moments to a higher level.
The guest vocal performance of Glen Harkin is an ideal contrast to the mostly instrumental style of Hodgson, and the international line-up of musicians, featuring Austrian rhythm sections and bodhran champions of All-Ireland, adds a rich, multicultural fabric to an album that is all about connection and reconciliation. “Fields Of Redemption” makes you pay attention to it and pays back generously. It is an album about seeking solace in the face of complication, about living in the future and still respecting the past. Hodgson has created something really special here- music that cures as it provokes.
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