You'd expect a guy born and raised in Newfoundland to sing about the ocean, bitter weather, and fishing. And while
Ron Hynes has actually done the requisite time playing folk music of a more specifically Maritime character (one of his earlier albums was titled Face to the Gale, which sounds a bit more like it), his first album for Toronto's Borealis label squarely straddles the line between singer/songwriter folk and straight-up country. In fact, to American ears there's a certain Midwestern flavor to his delivery -- on occasion, such as the lovely "From Dublin With Love," he sounds like no one so much as
Freedy Johnston in his vowels and inflections. Like
Johnston,
Hynes is more of a songwriter than a singer, but his homely voice is just the right vehicle for the bitter "Record Man" (a bitter denunciation of record label execs, accompanied by a jaunty and uncredited banjo) and the excellent "Ghost of Dana Bradley." On other songs, you wish he'd sing with just a bit more power, or, failing that, at least a little more speed. Recommended overall. ~ Rick Anderson