Unglued Reviews

With this second studio album, City & Colour is beginning to look less like a side project for Alexisonfire guitarist and co-vocalist Dallas Green and more like a fully fledged concern. Green has even roped in other musicians to help flesh out his solo sound this time around (although, confusingly, the album sleeve still states “all songs performed by Dallas Green” while simultaneously crediting extra musicians on all but two of the tunes), adding instruments like bass, mandolin, pedal steel guitar, violin, and even drums on a few tracks (including the shimmering Waiting…).

More important than these cosmetic changes is the progression in Green’s songwriting. While his debut Sometimes had a couple of great singer-songwriter numbers on it, it also had a lot of filler. Although Bring Me Your Love has its share of filler (the snooze-inducing Sensible Heart, for example), it delivers a much better hit-to-miss ratio.

The up-tempo two-part The Girl is a vibrant, banjo-fuelled highlight, and the lively jangle of The Death Of Me nicely sets off its introspective lyrics. But even the decidedly measured pace of Confessions is elevated by a memorable chorus.

The album is about two songs too long, but missteps like dawdling final track As Much As I Ever Could are more than offset by treasures such as the folksy Body In A Box. There’s an oddly cavernous ambiance on many of the tracks (including What Makes A Man? and Sleeping Sickness, which features guest vocals from The Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie), as if they were recorded in a large empty room – but outside of the studio, City & Colour is unlikely to be performing at empty venues any time soon.

Owen Heitmann