Saturday 29 March 2014

Toronto Tim Reviews 'To the Bone'


Okay, I've had a couple of days to gnaw on "To The Bone"... 
The album title is apropos, and certainly a brave move considering the majority of MM/Jones discography tend to lean toward relatively polished & expansive productions, which I do happen to love. However, sometimes a change is a good thing. The songs at first had me wanting for more, but then after a few listens, I realize they contain all that is needed. Does that make sense? 

It's a subtle album then, not a lot of huge anthemic choruses, but a few tracks are already favorites... 

"Phil The Hat & TJ" is the perfect opener. A sweet, warm slice of nostalgic melancholy; memorable images glimpsed, but not stared upon...

"Pardon Me" recalls the stark beauty and honesty of Paul Buchanan's 'Mid-Air'. The opening line "Pardon me for this intrusion..." reflects exactly how I feel when I hear this one. So raw and personal, one feels like an eavesdropper. Intimate, concise and fully-formed...

"Some Kind Of Surrender" has a weird spaghetti-western Morricone intro/outro that still has me scratching my head, yet it's somehow become a favorite.

"Fireworks" is a corker, simply one of the prettiest tunes I've heard in a long while. A gorgeous waltz with a stunning chorus... "We will bring fireworks, to light up the sky. Our hopes and our dreaming, and dreams I deny... will light up the sky."

"To The Bone"... That singalong-drinking-song chorus is an ear-worm that won't leave my head, it's so bloody catchy. Not sure if I love or hate it! 

"Somewhere North Of Here" stands with the very best songs in the MM/Jones catalog. A perfect blend of brilliant melody/musical arrangement and intensely moving poetry. In the timeless tradition of "Hopeland", a hymn of hope, empathy, perseverance & love... 

"I will walk beside you, and you will know I'm there
And I will touch you gently, to comfort your despair
That you might go beyond me, and the permanence of fear
To where your guilt and sorrow will fade and disappear."

The outro that follows "You will find me standing, on the other side of fear... Somewhere north of here" with MC's church-organy keyboards, Melvin's heavenly pedal-steel,  and I'd swear there's a choir in there somewhere... then TJ's killer falsetto "Ooh-ooh... Ooh-ooh" gets the chicken-skin crawling and the tears welling. Whew...

"To The Bone" very tasty indeed! Once again, well done & Thanks boys...

No comments:

Post a Comment