Original TUTFN content! Our first review of the new CD (listened to online before the release), courtesy of regular contributor Jane Flood. Thank you, Jane! – TUTFN
Separation of church and state is usually a good thing. If song writing and recording are done together, in the same studio, then there is no “separation”. I would think that it is something of a luxury to have the time and place to be able to do it all, as the Trews did with 2011’s Hope and Ruin, when they had a working vacation at the Bath, Ontario, cottage cum recording studio belonging to the Tragically Hip. The Trews’ newest album, titled The Trews, is less a departure from this live/eat/breathe (or sing) existence, than a continuation of reality, where the craft of composing lyrics, music, and cutting demos is done in one place and a band then transitions to a studio to record.
In a recent Performer magazine interview, lead guitarist John-Angus explained that they wanted some songs to have a “big and heavy sound” and others to possess a “stripped down and intimate” feel. While there was a secular approach to record-making, the album plays well as a cohesive entity. Hope and Ruin was the first Trews CD I bought and it’s the one I return to when I don’t know what else to play. It’s familiar and comforting. There’s something to be said for novelty, though, with this latest album and its separation or arm’s length distance between the stages of production – literally, there is an element of spacey-ness, as JA calls it. I think of it as the ‘big country’ sound (since a lot of the songs of 1980s band Big Country sounded like this) – within seconds of a song’s beginning, you feel like you’re standing in the middle of a wide openness. The use of techniques that the guitarist doesn’t usually employ were responsible for the “layers of spacey-ness”. I thought it was an effect that is present in “Ocean’s End”, and they manage to recreate it when they cover U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For”. At any rate, listening to songs that make you feel like you’ve transcended a produced-in-the-studio standard sound to something bigger – like being at one with a band and an arena-sized audience – are good with me. Especially when you’re engaged in the solitude of driving alone and all you anticipated was a quiet drive, just you and your new CD.
Best examples of these songs are “What’s Fair is Fair”, already released as a single, “The Sentimentalist”, “Rise in the Wake”, and “Age of Miracles”. All four tracks are riff-laden with John-Angus’ guitar work, and supported by Jack’s bass, pleasingly heavy at times, as well as the usual, solid percussion from Sean. “Rise in the Wake” is the LP’s first offering, a nod to their East Coast roots, with a slight Celtic flavour. These songs, along with “New King”, should appease their harder rocking fans. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that these play well live, then; the band tested out the first four of them at concerts last summer and fall, and any YouTube clips I’ve come across from these shows are satisfying to listen to, regardless of the quality of the visual aspect of the recording.
The Trews’ softer side is aided by cellist Anne Bourne on “65 Roses”, “In the Morning”, and “Living the Dream”. The use of cello was a saving grace for “Man of Two Minds”, from their No Time for Later LP – a guy who can’t choose between two women is somewhat dodgy, but the cello is lovely and it elevates these songs that deal with some of the complexities and sorrows of life. “65 Roses” is a heartfelt and uplifting tribute to their former agent who died a year ago this May, of complications from cystic fibrosis.
Unfortunately, fans will probably not get to hear live, very often, “In the Morning”, a duet with Serena Ryder. This is very much a stripped down and intimate love song – the track is simple and light in its instrumentation, with a deft touch on piano (Trews’ keyboardist Jeff Heisholt? I’m writing this without the benefit of sleeve notes with lyrics and credits…). If there was a video for it, you’d envision a setting during a summer’s early morning, in cottage country, when the lake is calm and quiet. Comparisons come to mind, such as “Leather and Lace” with Stevie Nicks and Don Henley. Also Elton John’s duet,“Love Song”, with Lesley Duncan, from his Tumbleweed Connection album (…yes, I’m “dating” myself badly, but they’re what popped into my head). “In the Morning” is prettier than “Love Song”; Serena’s voice has an attractive raspiness, just as Stevie Nicks’ vocals did – and of the two, Ms. Ryder enunciates more clearly. As usual, when the lead singer, Colin, brings his vocals down a notch or two, his love song yearnings are hard not to listen to.
The Trews funded this album through their fans’ Pledge Music contributions. Crowdfunding or crowdsourcing is a way to cut out the middle man, giving a band more control, while allowing a direct-to-fans access (or, direct-to-band, from our perspective). A mixed group of Pledgers got to visit the studio for a few hours one evening to provide “gang vocals” in a few songs. The efforts are especially apparent in “The Sentimentalist” and on the final song of the LP, “Under the Sun”. On this latter track, theirs is a joyous chorus, with Sean’s bounding rhythms guiding them along. As one fan predicted, this will probably become a join-in crowd favourite. In the backing vocals of this last track, one voice stands out, and it belongs to Maureen Leeson, a diehard fan who just happens to be in a band herself. Her voice is strong and a good match for Colin’s; she complements him nicely.
The album’s second track is “Age of Miracles”, a kind of postmodern “Age of Aquarius”. We’re all at the mercy of our parents’ musical preferences when we are children. Mine liked The 5th Dimension, who did a pleasant cover of “Age of Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In” from the musical, Hair. “Age of Miracles” seems like a reaction to the starshine-y version by The 5th Dimension. “Aquarius” promises peace and understanding, whereas “Miracles” admits to being overwhelmed with contradictions – “Got science, got faith… Superficial, supernatural. Living in the age of miracles”. It’s not without some playfulness, though – how many songs do you know have the word metaphysical in it? Works well enough when it’s “Met a girl, metaphysical”… Yes, what is ultimately there, what is it (she) like? Guys just want to have fun with their lyrics (tame, though, compared to “Hermaphrodite” from 2012’s …thank you and I’m sorry EP).
The postmodern ironist (there is such a word, the internet says so) believes that truth is socially constructed and this seems evident in Miracles’ “I’ll never be ‘the be all, end all’, but that opinion counts for f*ck all”. They may be OK with that knowledge, but I’d like to think that whoever penned the lyrics is more of a neo-romantic, believing that truth is found through the attainment of harmony with nature or exploration of the inner self. There’s a glimmer of hope for it in “What’s Fair Is Fair”, even if it’s only uttered once: “Only time will tell if we find our way to love”. It’s truly evident in “In the Morning”, with “I want to be the boat that carries you across the lake”.
A few tracks are throwbacks to 70s-era songs, when longer intros weren’t unusual. I had read a few years ago that today’s kids don’t have the attention spans for the kind of opening instrumentation found in Steve Miller’s “Jet Airliner” or Boston’s “Foreplay/Long Time”, for example. Maybe fans of good, old fashioned rock music are different, or the Trews just wanted to experiment a bit more with the space-y effect – just that they’ve done it in reverse, and tacked a bit more on at the end of a couple of songs. It’s a nice find, as is the Beatles-sounding “Permanent Love” (with a space age-y finish) and “Living the Dream”. The latter has a “Strawberry Fields” or even “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” feel. Apparently, the Trews were going for a Mott the Hoople sound. Well, Mott the Hoople was British, during the late 60s-early 70s – not hard to see who this former band’s influence was.
The Trews has been eagerly awaited by fans and although it’s reliable, quality work from a group that’s now in its second decade on the Canadian music scene, it’s not without its surprises, too. I have a feeling this album will also become a favourite that I reach for, when little else appeals to me. You start out with nothing other than yourself and the disc, kind of a stripped down and intimate state of being, and by the end, are reminded that we’re all in it together, maybe a few are more faded under the sun than others. Time will tell how the offering fares out there, but no sense wasting that champagne waiting for your day, gents – it’s here, now. It’s super, natural, and others will surely follow in your wake. It doesn’t get a whole better than that.
TOTFN 