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Album reviews Music

John Southworth

Rating: NNNN


UK-born, Canada-raised singer/songwriter John Southworth has a history of quirky projects: a record of rejected commercial jingles, an album recorded completely on an old cassette deck and a surrealist cabaret opera, to name a few. Compared to those concepts, his new double album, framed around the two sides of Niagara Falls, is fairly accessible. It might be the only record completely dedicated to exploring the contrasts between the Canadian and American sense of identity.

The two sides are have a similar sound but are different in mood and tone – the American side is more tense, bombastic and assertive. Southworth’s unique combination of folk-pop, cabaret and jazz gives Niagara a curiously old-fashioned feeling, without seeming overly reminiscent of any particular era. He has a slightly Bob Dylanesque nasal whine on some songs, but at other times he slips into a soft Harry Nilsson croon, and fills his lyrics with vivid imagery and storytelling.

Top track: The Horse That Swam Across The Sea

John Southworth plays the Music Gallery on Sunday (October 12).

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