Eoin Shannon expands his horizons on new album 'Highs & Lows'

Cork songwriter Eoin Shannon has always carried traces of the blues in his music, but 'Highs & Lows' sees him expanding that foundation into something strikingly intimate. It’s a record steeped in struggle, faith, and reflection; songs that don’t shy away from the heaviness of living but still find flashes of beauty in the midst of it.

The album opens with 'Going Through Hell', a track that immediately sets the tone with Shannon’s voice rough-edged yet tender, a lived-in instrument that commands attention. There’s a timeless quality in his delivery, recalling the gravitas of classic soul singers while still sounding entirely his own.

Spirituality runs like a thread through the record, most poignantly in 'The Closer You’re To God'. With Tom Savage’s aching guitar lines framing Shannon’s gravelly vocals, the song becomes less about preaching and more about wrestling, faith depicted as a test that cuts deep.

Still, the frontman knows when to let light in. 'Happiness Has Come to Town', enriched by Gaby Duboisjoli’s radiant backing and the elegance of Malte Hortsmann’s piano alongside Artem Litovchenko’s cello, is one of the album’s most affecting turns. The interplay between voices and instrumentation gives the track a sense of lift, a reminder that collaboration can be its own form of salvation.

The darker corners of Shannon’s writing come alive on 'Demon Lady' and 'Pull the Plug/Pull the Curtain', where desire, doubt, and release churn within blues-rooted grooves. These moments give the record grit, grounding its more contemplative passages with raw urgency.

Across its thirteen tracks, 'Highs & Lows' earns its title. It’s a journey through despair and redemption, tenderness and rage, intimacy and grandeur. Eoin Shannon’s strength lies in his willingness to inhabit all these spaces at once, refusing to sand down the edges of his experience.

For those seeking music that marries soul’s warmth with the storytelling bite of folk and blues, 'Highs & Lows' is a compelling listen, an album that feels both ancient in spirit and modern in honesty.