I quite like Brooke Wylie; when you sit and talk to her even for a few minutes, she’s got you laughing. A long-time member of the Calgary roots music scene, hosting weekly jams and recording her original tunes with local bandmates, she has since moved to Winnipeg. Not to worry if you’re a Calgarian just discovering her; she often travels back and performs with her cohort of backup players.
She sent me this album back in the spring; as is my terrible way, I got hung up on trying to write the perfect review because I like her a lot. I kept revisiting the record over the summer, each time encountering a frustrating case of writer’s block.
I pulled it out again today and it might have been the right moment for it to hit me, so here we go.
First of all, the great thing about Wylie is her voice. It’s a voice you might consider more suited to smoky jazz or Adele-esque covers, but she throws it into a series of roots-based songs, twisting her timbre around to meet whatever style is required. Her range is wide, but her normal register is quite low, which adds to the richness of the arrangements. And she loves to hang on to her phrases with totally superhuman longevity, adding a nice touch to already pretty melodies.
The subject matter, though, isn’t so pretty. Ladies (or men), this is a good breakup album. Maybe more so for the ladies, ’cause Wylie seems a little pissed at some (or many?) guy. She visits age-old gender dynamics and male misbehaviour with some fresh lyrics (“Well, come to think of it now/ I’m not sure why I care/ You are awfully loud/ And losing most of your hair”) and aggressive arrangements; these are tempered by more mournful ballads.
Overall, I think the album has a nice balance. The repetitiveness of the opening track, “Sister Debrew”, is countered by longer, flowing melodies in songs such as “Think Again”. A song carefully hanging on sparse textures like “Sorry Ain’t Just a Word” runs up against thick and busy walls of sound in counterparts like “Crazy Bird”. The title track’s sorrowful country two-step is challenged by the peppy, jazzy “What’s It Gonna Take”. And it’s not all relationship misery; songs like “There’s Always You” are sweet tributes to the good ones.
Wylie has a pretty versatile band; made up of Tynan Groves on guitar and lap steel, Harley Hoeft on bass, Guy Perrin on electric guitar, and Jeff Sulima, and augmented by guests on sax and trumpet, they traverse diverse styles like jazz, folk, country, and rock but manage to keep the album cohesive with an overriding roots aesthetic resting primarily on Wylie’s voice and honest lyrics. Producer Steve Loree, long-time member of the Calgary roots scene, the album is a nice combination of his and Wylie’s artistic vision. The songs move to a peak in the middle and taper in mood and energy towards the end.
Perhaps Half Empty Moon is this decade’s slightly-more-optimistic Jagged Little Pill? Kinda? The title song’s lament over the loss of a man to another girl isn’t quite the desperate anger of “You Oughtta Know”, but the sentiment lies underneath the its theme of regret and loss.
At the end, Wylie drifts into a cover of Ian Tyson’s “Blue Mountains of Mexico”, hidden after the last track. Just acoustic guitar and her voice highlight the bittersweet lyrics.
If we meet down the road a way, would we know what to say?
Has the river flowed too many miles, now we’re too far away?
Put lightning back in a bottle, like old lovers trying to stop the hands of time?
Blue mountains of Mexico
Will we be always alone, still out there on our own?
Maybe.
Wylie is a songwriter worth watching. She puts on a great show, whether on her own with an acoustic guitar or with full band backup. She also works with some of Calgary’s roots artists, including Scott MacLeod and T Buckley. Brooke will be playing a house concert December 21 in Calgary; for other information, the album, and tour dates, visit her website.
*Just to clarify – through a mix up between me and Brooke, I ended up reviewing this one, not her latest, Don’t Waste the Silence, which is also available through her website. Whoops! This is a good album, just a bit older…
