Patrick Watson is an extraordinary musician – seven albums in and the Canadian singer-songwriter’s delicate melodic tapestries never wear thin. Following 2019’s ‘Wave’, an album of shimmering majestic orchestral pop balladry, comes the announcement of the follow up on Secret City Records ‘Better In The Shade’, available to the digital universe now and in tangible vinyl/CD form later in the year.
You sense a new urgency here, an urge to get things shared while things are fresh. Previous single ‘Height of the Feeling’ a soulful, floaty ballad with Ariel Engle (aka La Force), burbled with synths and hinted at a more spontaneous unpolished edge. Now with an exquisite unraveling video from Elisabeth Perreault.to accompany the title track, ‘Better Than The Shade’ is ready for you streamers in full. The album’s namesake song is a beauty, trickling back to Watson’s early work around the rich source of his slightly worn falsetto whisper and front-room piano, with a new lyrical directness plus a focus on small sound details.
Less expansive but may be more intense, ‘Better in the Shade’ shouldn’t escape notice.
‘Better In The Shade’ is available now on the usual streaming platforms.
Vinyl/CD editions of the album can be pre-ordered from: https://store.patrickwatson.net/
No Comment