Rick White - Again
Blue Fog Recordings
Released on June 20th, 2025
Rick White has been chasing ghosts in the Canadian underground for over three decades now. From the lo-fi mysticism of Eric’s Trip, to The Sadies, Joe Plaskett and countless others, he’s remained one of the country’s most enigmatic and quietly influential songwriters and producers — If you're tuned into his frequency, you already know: White isn't just part of the scene — he is a scene unto himself. A true disciple of the home-recorded ritual, he’s built an entire mythology out of detuned acoustics, tape hiss, and fractured melodies that seem beamed in from somewhere just out of reach.
On Again, White returns with another dispatch from the tape-saturated void, this time drawn from a particularly intense creative burst. “Early in the new year,” he writes, “I decided to write, record and mix a new song every day for a month… with no real plan, just subconsciously letting stuff flow out quick to see what comes.” That unfiltered approach led to nearly 60 finished songs over two months, with Again collecting 14 of his favourites — tracks that “fit together really well.”
And they do. There’s a through-line in tone and texture that makes the album feel more like a single extended session than a compilation. Songs hover in and out of clarity, with White’s whispery vocals half-buried under layered guitars and shimmering reverb. The guitars jangle and bend like they’ve been left out in the sun too long, while thick bass and splashy drums playfully dance inside the pocket. It’s unmistakably psychedelic — but in White’s own way. Less technicolour swirl, more fogged-up mirror.
These songs sound like they were pulled from the ether and laid down before they had a chance to cool. You can feel the speed of their creation in their looseness — rough edges left in, arrangements left to wander. But nothing feels tossed-off. Even at their most skeletal, the songs radiate a kind of lived-in warmth. It’s music that doesn’t beg for attention, but rewards loyal Rick White fans – he’s still got it, and the fount of Rick’s creativity is flowing faster than ever.
White’s brand of psychedelia has always leaned rural — not in genre, but in spirit. Again carries that same energy: songs that feel found rather than written, cracked open in a moment of solitude and preserved like amber. There’s no grand statement here, and there doesn’t need to be. Just one of Canada’s most enduring songwriters getting on a roll and riding it until the wheels fall off.
