Artist: Annabelle Chvostak
Title: Resilience
Label: Borealis
Genre: Acoustic
Bitrate: 160kbit av.
Time: 00:45:55
Size: 56.07 mb
Rip Date: 2008-09-22
Str Date: 2008-00-00
1. Resilience 3:42
2. Seven Years 3:47
3. Runaway Lane 3:08
4. Wait For It 3:27
5. Piece Of You 3:21
6. Racing With The Sun 2:47
7. The Sioux 4:02
8. Driving Away 4:46
9. I Left My Brain 5:39
10. Firewalker 3:30
11. Line Of Ascent 3:52
12. Nashville 3:54
Release Notes:
When Annabelle Chvostek joined the Wailin' Jennys in 2004, the
rest of the world found out what a grassroots network of
Canadian roots fans had known for several years: that Chvostek
is a formidable songwriter, a versatile multi-instrumentalist,
and a fearless and innovative artist whose beguiling
left-of-centre compositions straddle the divide between
mainstream roots and acoustic indie pop.
Chvostek's songs were repeatedly singled out by critics as
highlights of the Jennys' Juno-nominated CD, Firecracker.
"Devil's Paintbrush Road" is still the most downloaded song
from the album on iTunes, and it was the #1 song at US folk
radio in 2006. It remained at #3 in 2007.
Now, after two and a half years of recording and touring with
the Jennys', highlights of which included several appearances
on A Prairie Home Companion, performing at New York's
legendary Town Hall and singing on the 2005 Juno Awards
telecast, Chvostek is releasing her much-anticipated solo
album, Resilience.
Recorded in New York and Montreal with Grammy-nominated
Canadian record producer Roma Baran and her producing partner
Vivian Stoll, Resilience is a sublime, spare, and profoundly
reflective album that Chvostek describes as "a big complicated
hug."
The theme, as the title suggests, is resilience, with
relationships often serving as a metaphor or jumping off point
for looking at how human kind survives its own foibles and the
resulting "craziness" of the world. "I Left My Brain," for
example, is a crunchy alt.pop number about "heartache in a
time of oil wars." "The Sioux" is a trad-influenced
fiddle-driven piece about a country train ride to Northern
Ontario and confronting the legacy of colonial occupation. The
title track wonders at the human capacity to recover from
heartbreak, while "Driving Away" sees Annabelle collaborating
with Bruce Cockburn on a song about a fictional relationship
that illustrates the aforementioned theme.
The sound of the album could best be described as
"contemporary urban roots," a style in which acoustic
instruments are front and centre, but in which strategically
placed programmed beats and electro-acoustic elements wrap
themselves gently and tastefully around the strings, at times
building the sound to a subtle crescendo such as on the title
track. In addition to Cockburn, guests include renowned
alt.country artist Mary Gauthier on backing vocals, Ani
DiFranco alumnus Julie Wolf on keyboard and accordion and
multiple Juno nominee Michael Jerome Browne on assorted
strings.
Taken together, the innovative production values and
insightful lyrics make Resilience a warm and enveloping album
about the possibilities for change and redemption.