Face To The Gale

1 Constance 2 Leaving On The Evening Tide 3 Sonny’s Dream 4 Killer Cab 5 Common Man 6 Gone To Canada 7 Godspeed 8 St. John’s Waltz 9 Final Breath 10 Primitive Thunder 11 Lighthouse 12 Away……………………… Hynes’ second solo album, and an album that clearly demonstrates his talent for writing and singing while moving from country to folk to maritime music. Although Hynes made his initial mark as a writer, he is able to demonstrate his other talents of singing and musicianship this time around. Lyrically, he covers topics as diverse as Irish immigration to the loss of friends to murder (the amazing “Killer Cab”), with all songs on the CD coming back to the central theme of loss. His writing is as good as ever, and this album contains a mix of old songs (ones that Ron had not recorded, but other artists had) and new material, and the newer material stands up to the best of his well-known songs. In fact, the highlight of the CD is the brilliant “Godspeed,” a new song full of beautiful, sad imagery, with an incredibly moving tune to match. It’s every bit as good as his classic “Sonny’s Dream,” which he finally gets around to recording here. Overall, a very strong, diverse, well-crafted album that would serve as a wonderful introduction to this talented Canadian artist. ..Aaron Badgley, AMG