I really like Melissa McClelland's Victoria Day album, which I reviewed a few years ago. To this day, her title song(s) still makes it on compilation mixtapes.
The good news is that since 2011, she and her husband, Luke Doucet, have been releasing music under the name Whitehorse. Their latest album is called The Fate Of The World Depends On This Kiss, the album came out in their native Canada last August, but a U.S. release is pending for January 15th. I did get a chance to listen to it, it's a little more country and blues rock than my normal cup of tea. Most of the tracks have strong lead vocals by Doucet, with McClelland complimenting his songs. If you say that this is a duet/duo effort, and certainly that's true, but I felt like the album was mostly under Luke Doucet's direction. Songs like "Jane" and "Annie Lu" seems like they were written from Doucet's perspective. The few songs that McClelland takes lead (like "Out Like A Lion" and "No Glamour In The Hammer") was a nice counter-balance to Doucet. My favorite track is "Peterbilt Coalmine", which has a great melody with even better lyrics:
Has the record stopped spinning?
Has the other boot dropped Is my punk flame burning out? And has the band moved on and left me on the farm? Is my rock'n'roll nerve all spent, just a flaming heart on an old man's arm? When it comes down to it, there's enough variety in song styles and genres that you won't get bored listening to the album from start to finish. It is a well-crafted solid album, which is always nice considering there's a lot of bad pop autotuned singles out in the world. The Fate of This World Depends on This Kiss will be out domestically on January 15, 2013 via Six Shooter Records. |
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