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
All My Friends. 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
O'Donovan 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),
O'Donovan 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
O'Donovan, they give her music an enveloping grandeur that's as alluring as it is haunting. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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