Familial themes have always threaded through Owen albums and L’Ami du Peuple is no different. However, in a ‘real life’ example of Kinsella’s progression, he is now father to two children, and the lyrics have changed accordingly. The pressures on him have shifted, now pressing from a new direction. How long have I been sleeping? he sings on ‘Vivid Dreams’. I’m a dad and my dad’s dead. On an album that is always going to be compared to previous work, this shift in focus and point of view serves almost as a metaphor for his development, a signal that he is charting new territory, as eager to learn as ever.

The album is produced by Neil Strauch, a prolific producer who has worked with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy and Iron & Wine to Andrew Bird, Ben Weaver and Hot Club de Paris. Kinsella and Strauch worked together throughout a recording process that was spaced across a few months, allowing them to pursue different moods and ideas, pushing songs in direction that would otherwise have not existed. Having a producer adept at different genres seems to help Kinsella, allowing him to explore different influences with the album.

It is the combination of styles that you really take away from the record. Kinsella has plied his trade with bands like Cap’n Jazz, American Football, Joan of Arc and Owls, and Owen has been reserved for his explorations of his singer-songwriter side. L’Ami du Peuple feels like a convergence of the two, with the best bits cherry picked from all of his previous projects to make an album that has surprising diversity and depth.

L’Ami du Peuple is out on the 2nd June on Polyvinyl Records.

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