BEAMS play the Silver Dollar June 8. See listing. Rating: NNNN
The first thing you hear on Just Rivers, Toronto art-country band Beams’ debut album, is Anna Mernieks’s high voice, alone for a few bars. It’s a dramatic musical-theatre-style intro: slightly ominous, making you wait an extra beat before the band kicks in with lap steel, banjo, mandolin, et al. It leads into first single Be My Brother well, and sets the tone for an album that never repeats itself and is full of unexpected nods and surprise turns – bluegrassy one minute (okay, many minutes), nodding to 60s Britrock the next.
Mernieks is a sure guide throughout but holds back to let each instrument shine – like her banjo on Sun Wraps ‘Round. Beams’ strength is their restraint, employing just enough singing saw, just enough plucking, just enough mystery in whimsical lyrics. They don’t hold back on harmonies, though, which truly shine on White Belly and Glory Box, making for the album’s most beautiful moments.
Top track: I’m Not Human
