Local Releases: Album Reviews

Local Releases

CASSIDY MANN IF IT’S NOT FOREVER

Released in early 2022, If It’s Not Forever is a six-track EP written and sung by Cassidy Mann. Her newest release is a combination of lightelectronic and acoustic vibes, the type of soft tones you might hear playing gently in a coffee shop or bookstore. As a whole, the EP tells the story of love lost and the journey of carrying on as a stronger self. The first track, “Tropical Sour Candy,” tells of how she longs for the love that was but is no more. The early mornings, the shared music, and sunrises tainted by the feeling of the partner who is gone. While every track has its charm, a few songs stood out from the rest. “Stop a Heart” includes painfully true lines like “you can’t stop a heart from breaking and if you can I don’t know how” and “Since I met You” are each warm and authentic. Track three, “Fine,” comes with a higher tempo, a lighter energy on what is a deep and honest set of songs. “Fine” sounds like the thoughts of someone moving on but still appreciating ever having been able to share their time with that particular someone. “I can’t go back to how it was before” the song begins. The lyrics of the chorus change each time it comes around, professing “I’m fine” with every elevation of rhythm. A beautiful balance between creative, poetic writing and instrumentation that reminds listeners of summer days. The title track and final song on the EP, If It’s Not Forever, is about all the memories that will never fade. “When we’re old and grey, we’ll both have these memories,” Mann sings. One half of what was once a united whole might be on the other side of the world, but those memories will stay no matter how much time has come and gone. As Cassidy Mann sings in her own words, “memories never age.” The energy of this EP is of cathartic healing sewn onto calming, relaxing waves of peaceful instrumentals. These lyrics were written by an honest heart on the rocky path from heartbreak to growth and reformation of self. Matt

Harrison

SAM SINGER FROM THE HILLS, BEATEN ROADS, DOWN TO THE TREES

The EP From the Hills, Beaten Roads, Down to the Trees by Sam Singer was released May 27, 2022. This short and sweet folk-rock EP with five songs, running approximately 16 minutes, was recorded at the Secret Beach, mixed by Micah Erenberg and mastered by J Riley Hill at No Fun Club. The artwork by Giuliana GuzziGold, who also appears on the EP as a backup singer, depicts the hills, beaten roads and the trees as a sublime yet rugged flowing dreamscape of earthy pastel colours. The first song on the EP “Freedom” was written back in 2019 and wasn’t released until May 2022. “Freedom” sparked a passionate debate between my friend Jackie and I. She thought he sounded like Kurt Vile and I thought “Freedom” was reminiscent of the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed (“Walk on the Wild Side” plays in my head). Eventually, we came to the conclusion we may both be correct. “I Want You Blue” was released as a single ahead of the EP, along with a music video directed by Kevin Tabachnick. Where he has a smoke and a drink while he watches someone from a window as they dock a boat, go for a swim, chop some wood and work on their motorcycle. At long last, their eyes meet, he gets waved over, and they ride off on the motorcycle into the sunset together. Up next, the song “Suzana” is a dreamy tune about love where the guitar is accompanied by an ensemble consisting of a flute, trumpet, and clarinet. Followed by “Hang Loose,” a faster-paced grooving tune where Singer drawls, “Hang loose. I think I saw you today.” He proceeds to describe missing someone, “Did you even know that we missed you off the paper? Hanging in the circles in my mind.” Finishing up From the Hills, Beaten Roads, Down to the Trees is “The Pool,” accompanied by prominent horns, a light flute, a breezy clarinet and keys. The keys become clearer towards the end as the song finishes slowly, drawing out the last moments on the EP as if Singer knows you don’t want it to end. For fans of: Kurt Vile, Velvet Underground. Keeley Braunstein-

Black

SOPHIE STEVENS WITH LOVE

Sophie Claire Stevens hit the ground running as an artist in the summer of 2018. Those who were fortunate to witness her perform in any sort of capacity felt immediately connected, if not through her warm music, but her even warmer personality. In virtually no time, she was performing alongside Micah Erenberg at the Winnipeg Folk Festival over numerous sets. After a scheduling conflict for Micah, Stevens found herself performing alone on a bill opening for local indie pillar Kakagi, composing a set of her own material with a backing band to boot. With Love, Stevens’ debut LP, sees these songs finally given life beyond the stage. Stevens succeeds in translating her wholesome energy to tape; her comforting folk instrumentation is inviting, her lyricism gives form to selfdeprivation, hopeless romanticism, and processing new beginnings, expressed with the utmost sincerity. “No One’s Happy” summarizes the anxious feelings in these themes into a boppy overflow of emotions that culminates in a deprecating yet relieving sentiment for a chorus that will stay in your head. Stevens’ lyrics are so expressively detailed, so much so that they bare so much emotional weight and significance with each interaction shared within the stories of her songs. Her soft voice carries love and hope for the future as much as it carries pain of the past. Every track has consistently great instrumentals that, juxtapose to a Sufjan Stevens song, fulfill a melodic and upbeat craving. “Wish Season” eases along a hazy atmosphere with its discrete slide guitar and brushed percussion. The raw piano ballad “Take the Bus” makes a small and brief moment filled with emotional tension. “With Love” snaps a perfect picture of the empathetic love that Stevens never compromises. It carries important lessons with each lesson and radiates the colour pink. For these reasons, “With Love” is for everyone. For fans of: Wilco, Joni Mitchell, Sufjan Stevens. Daniel Kussy

MAHOGANY FROG FAUST

Life and death. Right and wrong. Gods and mortals. The story of Faust, now centuries old, is a tale many times retold but always rife with moral quandaries and philosophical implications. F.W. Murnau’s film version, unleashed upon the public in 1926, was a victim of its ambition – audiences and critics alike were turned off by its interpretation of the source material and technical execution, both ahead of their time. Generations later, leave it to Mahogany Frog to add their fingerprints to its complicated and enduring legacy. The enigmatic Winnipeg quartet set out to write and perform an accompanying score to the flick back in 2017, and have now recorded it in studio and released it for all to enjoy. Quiet and loud. Peaceful and chaotic. Smooth and jagged. They’ve always been masters at engineering musical roller coasters, and this time they do so with the added cachet of expressionist German cinema guiding their writing. Though the film sets the pace for the album, which clocks in at 75 minutes across two parts, the band is by no means tracing with stencils. All the hallmarks of Mahogany Frog’s past projects are there: brooding ambience, synthesizer-driven crescendos, wobbly and emotional climaxes. “Flying Carpet I” sees them bridge the gap from the interwar period to an 80’s-style sound, with twinkling keyboards and a lush background giving way to a Morricone-inspired sci-fi romp. Later on, “We Encircle Within This Ring” put the low end first, with a delicate