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Genre: folk |
City and Colour was originally a solo effort by Dallas Green of Alexisonfire, a rock band far more popular to our northern Canadian neighbors than here in the U.S. If you’ve heard anything by Alexisonfire, the idea that a lead singer could actually pass off an acoustic album successfully on his own would seem ludicrous. Yet, that’s exactly what Green did in 2005′s Sometimes.
Fast-forward three years later, and we have another album from Green on his new label Vagrant Records. The years have not only added maturity and confidence to Green’s voice and delivery, but it’s added a raw aspect to his lyrics that are completely unexpected and not entirely welcome the first time through.
Sometimes was an album filled with what felt like acoustic versions of successful alternative songs – in other words, the songs could have easily passed as alternative if they had been produced that way. Yet Bring Me Your Love is a true folk album. These songs aren’t merely acoustic, they’re catchy in their own right and feature arrangements one could easily find in any folk musician’s repertoire.
What sets this album apart from other folk albums are the lyrics. There were times when I listened to these songs that I felt I had an indecently intimate view of Green’s mind and heart, which is something I can’t say I’ve felt in a very long time. To top that, Green has ironically written dark lyrics for his peppier tunes and happier (or at the very least, peaceful) lyrics for his slower, introspective songs. The juxtaposition of happiness and absolute sadness is guaranteed to leave any listener in a quandary. But that’s the beauty of the album, and that’s the beauty of City and Colour. I wouldn’t be surprised if this album survived the test of time to become nearly infamous thirty years from now – it’s that good.
