Beginning with swirling, sparkling sound in the lead track, critically acclaimed Irish folk rock musician Fionn Regan’s The Meetings of the Waters is a relaxed and ethereal album. Regan’s vocals set the tone for the remainder of the album, reaching high notes some of us cannot even fathom amongst the carefree notes that often come across as almost a whisper. Through beautiful acoustic guitar and incredibly well-produced arrangements, Regan’s sound is amplified to a place that is more than just an acoustic solo musician’s dream.
It is with fourth track “Cape of Diamonds” that the pace picks up, as the track is more layered and percussion-driven than its predecessors. “Book of the Moon” follows largely in suit, while sixth track “Babushka-Yai Ya” introduces a completely different, more punk-fueled, sound to the work. It’s frantic, it’s fun, and it is starkly different from “Ai”, a dainty instrumental track that seems to break down the energy from the album. “Wall of Silver” brings everything back to the same pace and soft percussion that brought us into Regan’s beautiful soundscape.
“Up into the Rafters” is the epitome of a music festival track, in our humble opinion. (We almost hear some Coldplay-like sounds in there, conjuring up vivid, multi-colored laser images in our heads.) He wraps the album up delicately with twelve minute instrumental track “Tsuneni Ai”, which almost feels like it was created in tandem with Savasana in yoga. It is eerily beautiful and calming.
Fionn Regan makes music that makes you feel good. Whether the lyrics are meant to address the mundane or not, they do so in the most eloquent of ways. The Meetings of the Waters is like taking a breath of fresh air. Every single song warrants its own placement, and – had Fionn been making music during that time – we could easily see every single one of these tracks being featured on The O.C. (Are you paying attention, Alexandra?)
The Meetings of the Waters is available now. Fionn plays The Bowery Ballroom on June 8th.
