(A Major Label/Shock)

Magnificent opus from Canadian roots music veteran

Fred Eaglesmith has been attracting a cult following for his idiosyncratic take on country, blues and roots traditions for nearly two decades now. New album Tinderbox shows that he’s still on top of his game, delivering simple yet effective lyrics in a Springsteen-esque voice, backed by a ragged, expressionistic folk sound – the effect sometimes resembles the Boss singing lead for Tom Waits’ band. Worked Up Field combines many regular Eaglesmith themes into one song, blending his meditations on religion, drought and struggling farms, while a counter spoken narrative is delivered simultaneously through the other speaker. Elsewhere, Sweet Corn opens the album and combines a straightforward hard luck tale (“All my life been trouble and toil”) with a textural soundscape of rattling percussion and surreal saloon piano. He’s not just out to mould and reconfigure musical traditions however, as the straightahead gospel of I Pray Now and the sparse banjo-led ballad Stand illustrate. Eaglesmith is an artist who respects classic roots music, but is also independent and open-minded enough to understand that no music need be sacred. Hence, Tinderbox is superb blend of organic gospel, blues and country with maverick-spirited experimentation and reinvention.

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MATT THROWER

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