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Album reviews Music

1977 – So Is The Sea

1977 plays the Horseshoe on Friday (March 9). See listing. Rating: NNNN


This new teaser EP from 1977, aka Toronto singer/songwriter Julie Kendall, is a day-brightening five-song slice soaked in a warm reverb haze. Take a listen and feel the March chill fade and the gentle spring breezes on the horizon.

The former Bellevue keyboardist writes simple tunes built on strong melodies and 60s-pop ambience, with just enough psychedelic touches to skirt saccharine overload. The slight lyrics are weaker but often work in a direct and open Best Coast kind of way. Poetic crypticism or wry literariness would undermine the chill mood.

Bellevue members back up the tunes, including Brent Hough, Kendall’s husband, whose high-in-the-mix surf-rock guitar works well against her soft, pretty vocal harmonies and pulsating organ lines. The full album, Seaforth, is due out later this year.

Top track: So Is The Sea

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