Kyla Charter, Michael Scott Dawson, and Blake Pinder
Kyla Charter
Edible Flowers // Self-Released
Edible Flowers is the debut solo LP from Toronto singer-songwriter and guitarist Kyla Charter.
An avant-garde mix of alternative R&B and experimental neo-soul with glitched-out trip-hop elements, Charter uses complex vocal arrangements, tight drums, and subterranean bass grooves to craft an introspective, emotive, and idiosyncratic collection of psychedelic-soul vignettes.
Opening track “Doubts” starts with many of the approaches that will emerge across the album — angelic vocal lines that are layered and woven into a living choral backdrop, looping melodies that fade in- and out-of-focus, beats that break in- and out-of-time, and an unwinding denouement that wanders away from where the track started, in this case to find a lone piano in a soulful ambient soundscape. “Doubt” also showcases how the deeply personal and sometimes recursive lyrics of Edible Flowers are used to lend a hypnotic and often ruminative quality to the songwriting. This continues on “Hey Mama”, where the repetition of “I’m not perfect, I get that from you” takes what could initially come off as an admonishment, and gives the idea room to breathe, expand, and transform into what sounds more and more like an offering of affection and an act of grace. While the stuttering beat and meandering bassline of “Breaking Dishes” is probably the album at its weirdest, “Qwyn” returns to more straightforwardly melodic alt-R&B in a touching ode to Charter’s sister, and illustrates the uniquely searing heartbreak of losing a childhood connection with a sibling as the relationship is reformed in adulthood: “I’ve been doing my best not to say goodbye / Holding on for dear life / Holding like I can’t fly / I miss you like I’ve never missed anyone I’ve ever known.”
A hallmark of the production on Edible Flowers is how Charter’s voice is dubbed repeatedly and crafted into a whole suite of instrumental accompaniment — listen for a strong example on joyful slow-burning jam “The After Party.” This approach also lends an emotional gravitas to the lyrical content, most evidently on the stripped-down soulful dirge of “Another Name”. This closing track relies on layered hummed chords and a slow-clap funeral shuffle that lays the foundation for mournful and questioning lyrics that seem to capture Charter processing the raw pain and grief of summer 2020 as it comes: “Did she know her bloodline would be stunted / Did she know the ancestors were coming / Did she know the world would say her name / But nothing would change?” The track’s sudden end drives home a gut-wrenching point.
- Julie Maier
Michael Scott Dawson
Music for Listening // We Are Busy Bodies
The quiet before the world awakens is my favourite time of time. It’s peaceful listening to the birds singing to greet the day. The other day I heard the reason birds sing in the morning is to say “Hey I’m still here and I’m grateful.” What a beautiful thought. Let me just enjoy that thought as the sun rises. I am just grateful to be here today just as the birds would say. My mind gets too scattered through the day with all the distractions at hand. I just want to try and remain in a peaceful state for as long as I can before the day's challenges try to derail me. Sometimes the right music adds just the right vibe to help me maintain that mindfulness I seek and I found that in Music For Listening by Michael Scott Dawson. The definition for the word Awesome sums it up.
awesome
[ aw-suhm ]
causing or inducing awe; inspiring an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, an awesome sight.
Michael Scott Dawson gifted us with his sophomore album, this beautiful release on April 8th, 2022 with We Are Busy Bodies. Dawson is from Estevan, Saskatchewan. A town I’ve only heard about once before. In my mind I imagine it a small town with postoffice and 100 year old hotel. I could be way off though. Whether you’re from a small town like me or city folk Music For Listening has no limits to what kind of listener you are. There is big peace and tranquility to be found in this new release and his last Nowhere, Middle of..Dawson has experience with field recordings which he used in the creation of this album. But I want to add I read it was a conversation with his Grandmother that really was the inspiration for this album and that is simply put…pure. Bring on the bliss that is Music For Listening.
“No Rave” commences with the sounds of Robin’s and other birds singing happily and then soft guitar tones and harmonies chime in. Followed by gentle piano notes that softly echo out a heavenly resonance I can only describe as pure awesome. The birds sing the song through. Dawson has experience with field recordings which he used in the creation of this album. But I want to add I read it was a conversation with his Grandmother about birds that really inspired this album. The album cover is a window. Your inside looking out.
“Two Solitudes” is the perfect example of a peaceful morning with a perfect video released to accompany this song. The video has an early morning skate, the birds, and the sound of wheels spinning, a wooden wind chime, and insects. The piano is plinking away in the background. All this peace and all before anyone else is awake. The appreciation and gratitude of that moment. This track is all that. Feels like perfect peace. The perfect jump. The perfect moment. Perfection isn’t far when you're in a constant state of gratitude. Let’s vibrate in that beautiful energy together.
“Everything In Modulation” has the healing frequency that resonates through you as the gentle ambient guitar sounds come and go. The humming you hear is the sound of a healing vibration frequency that fills you with a healing light. Sound healing is a real thing. Frequencies have that effect on energy. Well…we are energy. There is a method to this madness I speak of. Just listen for yourself and feel it firsthand.
“Praise and Other” is a prayer answered. The awesomeness of a moment like birth. Like a love so pure. The guitar emulates that here with softer background humming and softer birds. It is pure. A moment that no words can express. Feeling.
I hope you feel the inner peace and tranquility that Music for Listening brings. I hope this album will receive some accolades. It is gorgeous work of art. Thank you Michael Scott Dawson for this gift of pure perfection and peace. I’m grateful and thankful I found this album. My heart feels happier and lighter with every listen through. Hope your heart feels happier and lighter too!
Be good to each other
Love Always,
Green Noreen.
Blake Pinder
Reminiscing will be the Death of You // Self-Released
If you’re familiar with my work then you know that I have a deep love for the works of the man from the Fraser Valley, Blake Pinder. His songs have a consistent sound with their lo-fi production, acoustic guitar, and punk-esque vocals. I find myself giddy with every release he makes, excited to dive once more into his calming musical aesthetic.
His newest release, the seven track Reminiscing will be the Death of You is folk at its finest. Featuring his signature sound, this album incorporates keys, bass, and drums to sound as if Blake’s accompanied by a musical ensemble. It takes a minimalist ground floor and raises upon it layers of intricacy and nuance while all the time retaining his tongue-in-cheek humour and charm.
Some highlights of the album can include the schizo-nightmare of interwoven voices that concludes the third track “Ego Maximum”, the quick paced, catchy as all hell ballad “Captain Stoten”, and the opening track, the classic folk song “I want to feel like it's enough”.
With lyrics that are introspective and vulnerable, each song carries a heavy emotional weight, bound to draw a light out of even the coldest hearts. His beautiful words of heartbreak, hard times, and being unsatisfied too oneself will give solace to those that feel the same.
I’ve said this before in my Tasty Jams review of his last album, but it bears repeating: Blake Pinder makes so much with his home studio that it pales the work of major studios, because it has a personality and heart that are unparalleled. I’ll find myself coming back to this album, just as I do with all his others.
For those that enjoy a warm tune in front of a campfire, Blake Pinder has the sound to bring you back to those beautiful moments, and perhaps to create the beautiful moments of the future.
- Brandon Kruze