Robin James Hurt isn't merely singing songs. He's singing stories that feel chiseled out of stone and burned. His new single "Take Me Home" has him on a lifetime spent on the move, animating memory and musical spirit boxed into just under four minutes of electrified folk-rock fury. And it slaps not just for people who like traditional Irish music but for anyone who has ever pined for home while pursuing something distant from it.
"Take Me Home" doesn't tiptoe from the first beat. His unmistakable gravel-edged vocals, honed in decades spent jamming with folk royalty, including Sinéad O'Connor and the late, great Ronnie Drew, cut right through. There's a world-weariness to his tone.
The production is insane in all the right ways. Furious fiddle lines scurry like sparks off a hearth while the guitar work gallops ahead, merciless and unyielding. The song rises like a storm crashing off the Atlantic, swelling with tension. What's most impressive, however, is how intimate it seems. "Take Me Home" is an anthem for every soul divided between two places, every immigrant with one foot on alien land and the other in memory. As the world prepares for St. Patrick's Day, Hurt gives us something more than ketchup or a singing modern folk epic encased in sweat, strings, and soul.
"Take Me Home" may be Robin James Hurt's greatest hour. It's a new Celtic classic that punches you in the chest and doesn't let go.