Patrick Watson, Jane Inc, and Altameda
Patrick Watson
Better in the Shade // Secret City Records
In March of 2020 I had plans to see Patrick Watson in Berlin. For reasons familiar to everyone who reads this, I didn’t get to spend that night immersed in Watson’s intoxicating ebb and flow as he toured Wave. The subsequent months and years of pandemic pause were a blur. The feeling that all of this COVID-19 stuff is like something out of a dream is a bit of a collective phenomenon, and on his new album Better in the Shade, Patrick Watson mixes dreamy arrangements with phantasmagorical imagery in order to capture this dream state.
Watson has said the album is about “negotiating a world where you don’t know what’s real anymore,” and there’s a somewhat uncanny flavour to this new collection of tunes. Prior to Better in the Shade’s release Watson also commented on the album’s strong electronic element, but these textures are woven so nicely into the mix of stringed elements that they never jerk the listener out of their reverie. In reference to the new songs, Watson stated that “with the addition of modular synths, [they] were able to find a warmer and more touching approach to the electronics, that feel as acoustic as the rest of the instruments and move like liquid.” The liquid synths shine on songs like “Height of the Feeling” and “Little Moments,” without ever feeling out of place. Watson’s expanded palette won’t likely outrage long-time fans à la Dylan going electric though; after all, synths fit nicely into the mix on albums like Love Songs For Robots as well. In fact, the inscrutable essence of Watson’s music remains perfectly intact thanks to the tasteful arrangements, the sombre piano, and the familiar wistful quality of his vocals . Over the last couple decades Watson has managed to conjure similar feelings with the help of a remarkable assortment of instruments from album to album, somehow maintaining a through line despite the different tones. Here, his Watsonesque brand of ethereal beauty is once again captured in a fresh way.
With such lush textures throughout it’s easy to miss the poetry in Better in The Shade, but the lyrics complement the music nicely. On the title track, Watson sings “whatever follows you in the dark/ let it carry you” over eerie piano, as the violins steadily creep in. Then, on “Little Moments” as the instruments pulse, the harmonized voices swell, singing “as the sidewalk dreams for you and me/ the city lights are swallowed by the puddles on the ground.” Watson’s lyrics feel more like abstract illustrations that go with the music. He describes the lyrics on this new album as “a collection of little thoughts that were pacing around in [his] head,” and perhaps that’s why they feel like natural responses to the music.
The impressive contradiction at the core of Patrick Watson’s Better in the Shade is that he’s created a work of art that is fastidiously crafted, yet feels refreshingly unfettered. The music is intricate, dense and fresh, yet never feels pretentious. Somehow, nothing that Watson does or says on Better in the Shade feels contrived. Like a dream, it feels like the album takes shape naturally, and flows freely of its own accord.
- Devon Dozlaw
Jane Inc
Faster Than I Can Take // Telephone Explosion Records
Toronto based multi-instrumentalist Carlyn Bezic has cut her teeth over the years in a number of indie outfits, taking the stage with groups such as Darlene Shrugg, Ice Cream, and the incredible and perplexing U.S. Girls. Now releasing work under the name Jane Inc., she broke through last year with her debut solo album Number One, a brilliantly dancey and versatile set of songs that set a glamorously retro stage for what was to come. Now only a year later, Faster Than I Can Take brings Bezic’s specialized blend of artful electro-funk to new ecstatic heights.
Leading us into the album, the introduction to “Contortionists” builds patiently, its warm bass arp swept over by filtered synths and minimal percussion. Bezic’s lyrics here speak to the elasticity of time, the elasticity of our physical shape, our essential being-in-a-body-ness. For over two years now, these contortions of space/time have been an all too common experience as we endure isolation, confusion, climate anxiety, world-scale trauma. Though that all may seem pretty bleak (these themes of anxiety, embodiment, and overcoming are all ideas Bezic wanted to explore on the album, as she discussed in her recent interview on the Kreative Kontrol podcast) the album is far from gloomy. As she plays with images/motifs of unhumaness— as in the title of this project, the addition of “Inc.” injecting a corporate sheen to her name— she also celebrates the things that bring us closer, make us dance, share in energy.
Over the meaty stomp of “Human Being,” Bezic sings about being noticed, witnessed, being seen; all the reaffirming qualities of life that have been stripped away over the course of the pandemic. We can be dehumanized in many ways, under many circumstances, and Bezic’s work here acts as a salve to this injury. From the warm bossanova of “Picture of the Future” to the downbeat “Every Rip”, her intricately woven vocal harmonies steal the show, creating rich textures that ground the music firmly in the human body.
The irresistible lead single “2120” is everything you want it to be and more: nimble on its feet, dripping with style and colour, everything exactly where it should be, best heard loud. And honestly, who doesn’t want to hear Bezic rip out a (tastefully) face melting guitar solo?
As a genre-bending musical shapeshifter, Bezic’s deftness as a composer is an absolute pleasure to experience, her choices driven by a desire to propel, to dance, but also to look inward. Her lyrics are far from cookie-cutter dance music genericism, and her power as an emotional storyteller is evident, switching her musical style to reinforce her words as needed. Her skill as an instrumentalist is well known at this point, drawing (accurate!) comparisons to players with big footprints. Personally, I’m less interested in pointing out similarities, although as a shorthand it might be tempting— but, frankly, Faster Than I Can Take rejects it. Jane Inc. has created a work that is entirely its own, and although it is many things (varied, virtuosic, colorful, complex), above all it is an expression of freedom, and I would hate to do anything to pin that down. These days, we could all use a little more freedom in our daily lives, and sometimes there is no freer way to be in a body than to just fucking dance.
- Harman Burns
Altameda
Born Losers // Cadence Music Group
Explosions of talented musicians, bringing to the table a multitude of styles, everyone freely offering and creating a catchy album constructed in a country/rock aesthetic, rooted in clippings of deep meaningful lyrics, pains of loss, life's lessons and truths. Snaterse wrote many of the lyrics during a challenging time in which he nearly lost his father to a stroke, only to lose his 18-year-old stepbrother just weeks later in a tragic accident. The crisp musical heart wrenching realities of existence. The grim fact that “Everybody’s Gotta Bleed”.
Food for thought: have you ever wondered what it would be like to wear a dead person's clothes? The thought crossed my mind while listening to “Dead Man's Suit”, “I can feel your love drifting away like the wings of an airplane”. An orchestrated finish packed with an instrumental conclusion, leaving me with the feeling of a peaceful passing on.
In a “behind the song” description of their album Born Losers , Troy Snaterse says it like it is: “Nothing lasts forever, but if you’re lucky, you might leave something behind that carries your memory on long after you’re dead: a suit, a song, a bit of wisdom. Life is short. Don’t go wishing it away”.
With that note, “In time, They say” sets us up for some more lyrically spoken insightful lessons. “patience is a virtue”, “reach for the sky, don’t let them bring you down” and “some have gotta win and some have just gotta lose”. Letting the lyrics set in, casting a slow, solid, deep, vibrating rhythm.
Saving the best for last, “Nightmare Town”. I can relate to this song, as I grew up in small prairie towns. “Baby let’s burn it down, I can’t stand the sound, of this Nightmare Town”. This song caught my interest with its catchy, ridged rhythm, and bold rocking piano. Reminiscing in the journey of the lyrics; “holds us down, keeping us out of the light”.
My last thought, is the grass greener on the other side of the fence? Enjoy the journey folks…
- Stephanie Harrold
