All My Friends
grew out of a commission
Aoife O'Donovan
accepted in 2019, a project designed to celebrate the centennial anniversary of women being granted the right to vote in America.
O'Donovan
found herself drawn to suffragist Carrie Chapman Catt, whose letters and writing served as the catalyst for the song cycle of
. Dense in its imagery and fleet on its feet, the record unfurls swiftly -- with eight original songs and an inspired cover of
Bob Dylan
's "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" serving as its coda -- yet
plays with pacing and production, letting the album expand and contract so it gives the illusion that it's longer than its 40 minutes. The richness is musical as well as thematic: working as producer for the first time (
Darren Schneider
and
Eric Jacobsen
are credited as co-producers),
gives her resolute folk-rock a cinematic flow, shifting from symphonic to jazz textures with ease. The additional instrumentation, harmonies, and strings don't overwhelm
, they give her music an enveloping grandeur that's as alluring as it is haunting. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine