On the one hand, Patsy Watchorn's present album is a collection of songs which have been on his list for quite some time; on the other hand, those songs reflect very much what he stands for as a balladeer and therefore also gives you a glimpse into the man behind the legend. From the simple wish to add more songs about his beloved hometown like "Dublin Town In 1962" to his repertory, to the fact of being very much aware of today's world and expressing this awareness in a song like "Hearts On Fire", the CD blends nicely into a consistent work where every piece fits. 

Considering the aforementioned consciousness of the world we live in, it is no wonder that Patsy picked "Hearts On Fire" as the title track and a few more songs to shift the weight of the album to a very contemporary statement about the state of this world.
The beautiful "Hearts On Fire" was written by Frank Hennessy, one of Wales' most prolific singer/songwriters, a couple of years ago. But, as you will detect while listening, it has lost no relevance ever since then - on the contrary! The lyrics are intense and up-to-date like they had been written weeks ago, inspired by current headlines in the world news. 
In our fast moving times, Patsy has always been careful not to forget the people and events that shaped Ireland's history through the centuries. So it is not astonishing that one of the tracks of the album, "Ann Dev-lin", perfectly fits to the 200th anniversary of Robert Emmet's execution in 1803. Anne Devlin was servant to Robert Emmet and loyal to her master and his vision, suffering at Kilmainham Jail as well. No one lesser than Padraic Pearce said about her: "Whenever the name of Robert Emmet is mentioned in history let the name of Anne Devlin never be forgotten."

Between these two corner marks, Patsy has managed to gather a collection of songs telling about life past and present, about emigration and memories of childhood, about love found and lost and about the love for his country.