Robin James Hurt - A SONG, A STORY TOLD (The Songs of Robin James Hurt & Tony Floyd Kenna) (2025)

Robin James Hurt‘s new album A Song, A Story Told fuses folk heart with rock edge, crafting warm hookiness with timeless storytelling. Co-written with Dublin poet and songwriter Tony Floyd Kenna and tracked at home on 4- and 8-track cassette, the record channels both rollicking street-music energy and intimate, heartfelt moments with seamless cohesion. It marks another accomplishment in the career of Hurt, who has performed with artists like Sinéad O’Connor, Ronnie Drew, and Finbar Furey.

A vibrant, twangy melding of power-pop and folk-rock shines on opening track “Hey Mary (Play A Song For Me)” — traversing the seasons with an inviting quality, marveling at how “the music moves their feet to dance” in celebrating the beauty of street music in Dublin. Specifically, the track plays as a nod to peace activist and street musician Máire Úna Ní Beaghlaoich. The ensuing “When The Happiness Is There” struts a darker edge, pairing heavier guitar distortion with a beckoning to “hold on as tight as you can” — impactfully showing the band as successfully traversing across both gleeful power-pop, apparent in the opener, and this production’s gritter alt-rock vigor.

The album is consistent in its alluring songwriting, from the plucky folk emotion within the lush “In The Heart Of A Rainbow” to the encouraging multi-layered vocal jubilation within “Don’t Look Down On The Day.” The release’s closing one-two punch is especially memorable. “Take Me Home” is a brisk folk-rock charmer with a rollicking array of guitars and strings, fit for holiday good times and an appreciation for one’s humble beginnings — and the yearning for home following their departure. Elsewhere, the album’s title track proves a wholly sating finale, playing as a parent-to-child lullaby bolstered by bursts of affecting harmonica. A Song, A Story Told is an enveloping listen, succeeding across both vibrant rockers and more introspective build-ups.