Glen Hansard: It Was Triumph We Once Proposed… Songs of Jason Molina

While Glen Hansard hasn’t quite matched the acclaim he achieved with the Swell Season, or even his previous band, the Frames, his solo sojourns still find him mining the same solitary terrain of recent times. That’s especially evident on It Was Triumph We Once Proposed…Songs of Jason Molina, given the fact that its title is more expansive than some of the somber melodies it contains.

Written in tribute to the late musician who engineered the elusive alt-folk Magnolia Electric Co. both on his own and in occasional collaboration with others, it’s both sobering and stirring, a scant five songs long, but amplified by a deep reservoir of emotion. The amped up crescendo that suddenly elevates “Hold On Magnolia” and the solid rock underbelly so vital to “Vanquisher” suggest Neil Young in Crazy Horse mode, but with Hansard at the helm, this particular Triumph remains true to its title.