Rating: NNN
Not everyone will appreciate the quiet, intimate, slow-burning, mostly drumless songs found on Toronto-based Julie Fader’s cohesive debut album, especially those listeners unfamiliar with her stellar vocal, flute and keyboard contributions to Great Lake Swimmers, Chad VanGaalen, Sarah Harmer, Attack in Black and other top-notch Canadian indie acts.
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Lushly produced by Holy Fuck’s Graham Walsh, the album is free of instantly catchy hooks, sharp edges and singalong choruses. Instead, we get heaps of Fader’s anguished (but never angsty) lyrics, dreamy melodies, nuanced arrangements and angelic singing, plus cameos by those to whom she often lends her prodigious talent.
The dark, “wrong” guitar notes on Skin And Bones make it the most interesting.
Top track: Skin And Bones
Julie Fader plays the Horseshoe on December 4 and 5.
