Information/Write-up
Ben Caplan makes being haunted sound like a helluva good time on Birds With Broken Wings. The Halifax-based troubadour's new LP is rife with rattling offbeat percussion, creaking fiddle playing and spine-tingling nimble fretwork in the guitar parts. But nothing sounds more devilish on the LP than the songwriter's own voice, with which he howls and growls like an eternally damned scoundrel on many of the tracks.
Caplan's lyricism is chillingly bizarre throughout much of the album. On the title track, he hoarsely demands that he be brought "mounds of human hair" and that "all the trees get in single file." Those lyrics are complemented by the tune's instrumentation, which sounds like an incantation that mixes elements of Django Reinhardt and Tom Waits. Midway tunes "Dusk" and "I Got Me a Woman" will also raise listeners' eyebrows, what with the former's mariachi horns and the latter's fairly wholesome female accompaniment to Caplan's abrasive singing.
Then, after listening to a near album's worth of gravelly voiced singing, the biggest shock of all may come on the album's back end, when Caplan abruptly changes the tone and sings as smoothly as a lounge singer on "Lovers Waltz." The album's strengths lie in these unpredictable twists, during which Caplan demonstrates his originality.
Unfortunately, the singer-songwriter doesn't maintain that distinctive tone throughout the LP. On tracks like "Deliver Me," he leans too heavily on Waits' influence, hoarsely pontificating about St. Peter being on a smoke break. The same goes for "Belly of the Worm" and "Devil Town," which sound too akin to Waits' famed vaudevillian vibe. In the future, if Caplan can take on more of the risky, experimental twists that make "Dusk" and "I Got Me a Woman" so special, perhaps a host of younger artists will be moved to mimic his style with the same reverence that he has for Waits.
Kyle Mullin, Exclaim, September 15, 2015
Ben Caplan: vocals, piano, guitar, banjo, vibraphone, harmonica
Taryn Kawaja: piano, toy piano, vocals
Socalled: piano, vibraphone, madness
Joe Grass: pedal steel guitar, mandolin, pedalboard
Ronald J. Hynes: contrabass, bass guitar
Damien Moynihan: drums
Jamie Thompson: drums on 'Ride On'
Greg Woolner: drums, marching drum
Phil Bova: drums, percussion
Mohamed Raky: goblet drum [darbouka]
Sergiu Popa: accordion
Erik Hove: alto saxophone, flute
Jason Sharp: baritone saxophone
Michael Winograd: clarinet
Jean-Nicolas Trottier: trombone
Andy King: trumpet
Donald MacLennan: violin
Jaron Freeman-Fox: violin, pedalboard
Pemi Paull: violin, viola
JC Lizotte: cello
Nicolae Mărgineanu: cimbalom
Jennifer Swartz: concert harp
Coco Love Alcorn: backing vocals
Cyndi Cain: backing vocals
Judith Little-Daudelin: backing vocals
Lindsay Alcorn: backing vocals
Sarah Makonnen: backing vocals
Sasha Muise: backing vocals
Arranged by Fred Wesley (track B7), Michael Winograd (tracks A1, A3, A5, B8, B9)
Produced by Josh "Socalled" Dolgin
Engineered by Howard Bilerman (Hotel2Tango), David Henriques (Coalition Music Studios), Darren van Niekerk (The Sonic Temple)
Assistant engineering by Tyler Fitzmaurice (Hotel2Tango)
Edited by Philip Shaw Bova
Additional editing by Socalled
Mixed by Renaud Letang (Studio Ferber)
Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova
Design by Naryn Davar
Painting by Ambera Wellmann
Photography by Taryn Kawaja (B&W photos), Mark Maryanovich (colour photos)
Recorded at Hotel2Tango, Montreal, QC
Additional recording at Bova Sound & Bova Lab Studio, Montreal, QC; Coalition Music Studios, Toronto, ON; and The Sonic Temple, Halifax, NS
Packaged in a gatefold sleeve. Includes an 8-page booklet and a download card. Orders from the Pledgemusic campaign for the album included a thank-you card.
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