Rating: NNNN
Right from the first song – a confident ballad as much about the people and streets of Montreal as it is about a woman – it’s clear that JF Robitaille’s third album is his strongest yet.
Rival Hearts is full of sax, brass and electric guitar textures that make you want to listen repeatedly, especially to the first half. There are bloopy, buzzy synth sounds, too, but only in places where they serve the song or act as a bridge between tracks. Kudos to Robitaille for choosing a band – Tavo Diez de Bonilla, Andy Magoffin (also co-producers) and J.J. Ipsen – so well suited to his bittersweet, poppy songs.
It seems that since 2011’s Calendar, Robitaille has had a chance to let his influences (there are hints of Belle and Sebastian in Dead Letters) percolate into a sound all his own.
Top track: Dead Letters
