The Irish singer has gone from busking on the street to headlining arena tours with over 13 million monthly listeners, expectations were high for his second album to date.
When Dermot Kennedy’s debut album, Without Fear, was released in 2019, Kennedy had established a passionate fanbase who clamoured for him in venues such as the O2 Apollo Manchester and Rock City.
Fast forward to now and Kennedy has cemented himself as a global star with billions of streams alongside a headline arena tour in 2023, including the O2 Arena and Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena.
The title for Kennedy’s latest album, Sonder, refers to the realisation that everyone you pass in the street lives a life as complex as your own, which they are constantly living despite one’s personal lack of awareness of it.
In what is a challenging concept to grasp, the album executes on this idea successfully for the most part.
Sonder — the realisation that each passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. My second studio album is out now everywhere ♥️https://t.co/DVxuS8hgBw pic.twitter.com/7mRqTncpDl
— Dermot Kennedy (@DermotKennedy) November 18, 2022
The album’s opener, Any Love, is an instrumentally sparse and reflective song with vocal effects that are reminiscent of something from Bon Iver’s 22, A Million.
While the ending is abrupt, the song serves as a scene setter for the themes of love, loss, regret and hopefulness that follow.
Something to Someone feels deliberately geared towards radio play, which isn’t necessarily a negative. However, the lyrics are lacking the poetic edge Kennedy is known for.
But the sentiment of the song regarding the simple notion of comfort that you find in meaning something to another feels expectedly sincere.
Kiss Me is another track that you sense was made with hitting the mainstream airwaves in mind, yet this one delivers in catchiness as intended and improves in subject matter.
If the older fans of the Irish singer-songwriter were beginning to feel slightly worried and disconnected, they are sure to be reeled back in with two beautiful piano ballads, Dreamer and Innocence and Sadness.
The singer continues to focus on the idea that love isn’t about grand gestures but rather being there for someone regardless of the day, the time or the circumstance as he sings: “I might show up a little late/ I’ll try to learn from my mistakes/ Ain’t got a song to sing without your loving/ Isn’t that worth something?”
The latter, Innocence and Sadness, was recorded live in one take at Mission Sound Studios in Brooklyn, the video can be found on YouTube, highlighting Kennedy at his finest with rawness in his vocals and an abundance of emotion and passion.
Some of the most vivid and evocative imagery on the album is present here. It is immediately intimate and honest, seeing beauty in life even when it seems at its bleakest.
Over time, this could easily grow to be one of his finest songs.
Kennedy continues to adopt a polished, pop sound on Divide as he recalls an old relationship whilst defiantly declaring that nothing will keep them apart over instrumentation previously unheard in his work, while Homeward parallels Redemption on his previous album.
One Life is one of the album’s highlights and will almost certainly take on another form when it joins him and the band on tour in 2023.
Kennedy has expressed candidly about his love for hip hop and the influence it has had on his own sound over the years.
One Life is confident and holds a certain sense of that tension and vitality that is often found in the genre he admires so much.
After the momentum of One Life, the following track Better Days, which centres around optimism and hopefulness, seems an odd placing in the tracklist and it is a surprise it was included at all.
Despite its buoyancy, a pandemic themed release seems outdated and only serves to kill the pacing.
With its drowning pianos and obvious yearning lyrically, Already Gone is another undeniable standout.
Arguably, some of the record could come across as safe yet the penultimate song is the perfect blend of moving forward whilst maintaining originality as a musician.
His powerful vocals are rightfully front and centre with lyrical insights such as: “I can write her poems, that ain’t what she wants” and “Her voice is like a song that I can never get out”.
The concept of timing and missing the moment in a world that is ever-changing is a very poignant theme as the album continues to consider the complexities of human nature.
As Kennedy’s second effort draws to a close, he returns to the piano again for a song that is soaked in nostalgia.
Blossom broods over the arching themes of Sonder and serves as a rumination of a life that has been lived, loved and lost.
It is emotional and is tinged with fear, which perfectly ends a more pop-focused and sentimental record.
Dermot Kennedy is destined to be a huge success regardless of what he releases going forward.
While much of this album is cohesive, emotive and soundly executed, he could rise to even greater heights if he breaks free from his own safety net in the future.
7.5/10
Featured Image Credits: Dermot Kennedy, Twitter