Comments for O'Connor, Hazel, Private Wars

I reckon this Hazel''s best record. Mature lyrics, two tracks not self-written - a wonderfully non-sentemental version of the Irish standard ''She Moved Thro'' the Fair'' (credited as Trad, but I thought it was written by Padraig Columb) and a fabulous indescribable track '' conversations with a bar stool''. Not a duff track - she''s really got the measure of the soul style which creaked a little one or twice in ''To Be Freed''. Her voice is brilliantly controlled, and the band is on form - more relaxed than "5 in the morning" - able to blast out the up-beat numbers and me singing along at full volume.

This album hasn`t been released in the UK. Despite the title thisalbum is a lot more relaxed than previous releasesand it has a strong celtic feel.

simply hazels best album to date,