Album Review: Dermot Kennedy, The Weight Of The Woods

‘The Weight Of The Woods (Reprise)’ opens Dermot Kennedy’s third album with soaring gospel choir and the man himself singing, “If I should fall down / Under stars I can crawl out / Get me back to my home ground”.

It’s a clarion call for a musician who went interstellar with the albums Without Fear and Sonder to return to his folk roots. Indeed, second track ‘Honest’ possesses galloping rootsy guitar, which races Kennedy “headfirst down the old stone road to the bridge outside Kilteale”, searching for sacred love and the forever young.

‘Refuge’ is proof positive that when all the stadium shows and mega stardom are stripped away, Dermot Kennedy is at heart a magnificent balladeer, possessed of a golden melodic ability and mighty storytelling chops. And yet when he touches down at the Aviva Stadium in July for two colossal homecoming gigs, every punter on that field of grass in D4 will be yelling back every single word to their hero. Ditto lead single ‘Funeral’, which has already clocked nine million Spotify plays.

Elsewhere, ‘Endless’ builds from ruminative exhale to titanic crescendo, with Kennedy inhabiting a magnificent piano-man role that balms the soul, whilst ‘Blue Eyes’ is the flipside to that coin. It’s more of a whisper in the ear, but still equally as powerful.

Finally, the title track closes out the record with a wandering minstrel ballad, which serves as something of a mandala for this most cherished artist.

8/10

Read our cover story interview with Dermot Kennedy in the current issue of Hot Press: