JIM BRYSON : SOMEWHERE WE WILL FIND OUR PLACE

JIM BRYSON : SOMEWHERE WE WILL FIND OUR PLACE

The Depression Dance
Changing Scenery
Stuck In The Middle
Call Out
Cigarette Thin
Ontario
Breathe
Moth
Sweeping (Part 2)
Rust & Fade

Label : MapleMusic Recordings

Release Date : Februay 19, 2016

Length : 38:27

Review (Festival Peak) : Ottawa, Canada's Jim Bryson is known, but not well known. He's known locally for being a member of (the great) '90s alternative rock group Punchbuggy, before not only striking out on his own, but for being something of a sideman. He was a member of Kathleen Edwards' band, and she has recorded his own material (as well as making him the subject of her own song "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory"), and there's a whack of others that Bryson has collaborated with, including Howe Gelb of Giant Sand. Perhaps most famously, he recorded an album with the now (seemingly) late and lamented Winnipeg group the Weakerthans (2010's The Falcon Lake Incident, which turned out to be, at least so far, the swan song for the latter outfit). Needless to say, Bryson is one of those people for whom the critical accolades pile up, but he's never been mega-successful commercially. So, in that sense and given his charity towards other music makers, Bryson could be seen as a "musician's musician", particularly around Ottawa. The thing is, once you have had a chance to see Bryson perform (or hear one of his records), you begin to understand why people adore him. Basically, there's no forgetting the experience. I've only seen Bryson live once (at Ottawa's Barrymore's nightclub) and I'm pretty sure he was the opening act. The thing is, I can't remember for the life of me who the headliner was at that concert. I've tried to wrack my brain, and nothing comes up. That should tell you something. Even though I wasn't an overt fan of Bryson's laid-back style of songwriting (at least not at the time), he had a magnetic enough stage presence and a consistency to his performance that, even now, I can look back upon and have hazy memories of. Which brings us to Bryson's latest platter, his fifth, Somewhere We Will Find Our Place. Obviously, Bryson has found something of a place for himself in the Canadian musical landscape - after all, people wouldn't be lining up to work with him if that wasn't the case. However, the disc is one that is contemplative and introspective. Opening cut and lead-off single "The Depression Dance" seems to be about finding the place in which you really belong, and doing a lot of gazing at your heart to reach any conclusions that you might have. As much as Bryson owes a little bit to the touchy-feely side of Sufjan Stevens - and a lot of Somewhere We Will Find Our Place does sound Stevens-esque, or at least folky Stevens-esque (just without the banjos) - the song is liquid and jittery, and something that could only come from the hands of someone who knows what he's doing, musically and instrumentally. The jitteriness just adds to the nervous feel of the song lyrics, which conjure up images of late night soul-searching with a pack of cigarettes on hand. Elsewhere, there's a kind of Jimmy Buffett vibe going on with "Changing Scenery", at least musically, with a sort of Hawaiian guitar lick providing the song's bed. However, the mood is anything but relaxed. There's a flickering pulse of sweaty energy emanating from the life of the piece. The sound is as though you're hearing an artist who has a lot of existential crud going on - enough to fuel something of a minor crisis. And there's more on other tracks. "This is not a sing-along song / It will not rally anyone," even goes "Stuck in the Middle" (not a cover of the Stealers Wheel classic), which would suggest a dourness and self-proscribed panic at where Bryson views himself in position with the rest of the musical climate - but the music is kind of buoyant, and has a major-key relaxed mood. Polarities, musical or otherwise, are the name of the game here. As much as Somewhere We Will Find Our Place seesaws with emotion, it is a remarkably consistent and whole-sounding record. Not one track feels out of place, and you can tell that a lot of time and energy and craft went into making this - and even Bryson alludes to this on his announcement of the album on his web site. It is, in many respects, a very special record, one that feels abstractly personal, but not overly so, making things universal to just about any listener. While Bryson's folksy style of songwriting might be a bit of an acquired taste - even when he's rocking out, as he does on "The Depression Dance", there's a non-flashy approach to his style of songwriting - it is remarkably mature and confident, moving from strength to strength. So what doesn't work on the record? Well, there are female vocals providing a backing track in some places, and while I personally feel that female artists are infinitely more interesting to listen to because their vocal range seems to be more expansive, the femaleness does seem a tad out of place. It's as though Bryson is adding a little bit of sugar and glossiness to things (perhaps finally owing to some kind of pressure from outside sources?), and it's a tad bit too much. Bryson is a convincing enough vocalist that a lot of the material could have had greater urgency without this slight over-production touch. Still, that shouldn't detract from the majesty of this disc. If you can look past the varnish, there is an intimacy and rawness to these tortured (but not too tortured) songs. All in all, Somewhere We Will Find Our Place is the perfect soundtrack to a lazy, overcast, rainy Sunday afternoon, when you might finally have a moment's peace to yourself, but may be feeling a bit keyed up from the looming work week. The positioning of these songs as idle but edgy creates a sense of relaxed urgency in the listener. This is a CD that requires multiple listens to be rewarded with the dualities that the disc provides. The thing is, the syrupiness of the female vocals aside, this record holds itself up to scrutiny, and offers sterling counterpoints within itself. All at once, Somewhere We Will Find Our Place is a disc that is both rustic and rural, but urban and contemporary. This, of course, makes it the perfect Ottawa album, because if you know anything about Canada's capital, it is that it is, at once, metropolitan with a bursting night-club scene, but also preserved like amber in time with large swaths of greenspace and its close proximity to woodland areas. So whether you live alone in a concrete slab of an apartment building, or live like a hermit in the backwoods somewhere, Somewhere We Will Find Our Place offers boundless pleasures to those willing to seek them out. All in all, Jim Bryson might just be Ottawa's best kept secret. If he keeps making albums as good as this one, with time, I'm sure he'll find something of a larger audience beyond the close-knit community of rabble rousers and merrymakers, whose company he already well keeps.

Review (Exclaim) : "This is not a sing-along song / It will not rally anyone," Jim Bryson sings wearily on "Stuck In The Middle," a subtle standout performance three songs in to Somewhere We Will Find Our Place, the Ottawa songwriter and multi-instrumentalist's powerfully vulnerable fifth album, out on his own Fixed Hinge label and Fontana North. The thing is, the entire album is a sing-along, just not of the blasting-out-of-a-car variety (though some songs, including "Breathe," with its explosive drum and electric guitar finish, beg to be blasted). Bryson's tentative explorations of the ups and downs of Canadian mid-life, of quotidian worries - of depression, anxiety, love and malaise - ring true, as they're funny and moving, never merely complain-y. It's the kind of album that demands listener engagement, and, like a good Canadian quilt (albeit a modern one, with bright and busy, abstract geometric patterns) offers comfort and solace. The sense of shared inner experiences is underlined by backup vocals courtesy of Caroline Brooks (the Good Lovelies), Kathleen Edwards and Kelp's Jon Bartlett, Andrew Vincent and Jon Lomow, and further illustrated in the collaborative video for "The Depression Dance" (edited by Jeremy Fisher), for which fans and friends sent in videos of themselves dancing to the song. Now how's that for rallying? It should be noted that the sonic playground over which Bryson's thoughts play never finds him resting on his laurels: Somewhere We Will Find Our Place is a quietly restless, urgent and quirky listen, tightly wound and sounding a little like Michael Feuerstack backed by Bahamas on songs like "Changing Scenery" and waxing atmospheric and spacious in other places (such as "Cigarette Thin"). Bryson's rich guitar, keyboard and percussion tapestries are augmented by Charles Spearin's production and Shawn Everett's mixing - the latter has preserved the homemade, heartfelt vibe while helping to make it a great and original-sounding record.

Review (Canadian Beats) : Ottawa singer/songwriter Jim Bryson is releasing his new album, Somewhere We Will Find Our Place on February 19th through Fixed Hinge/ Fontana North. The ten track release is full of honest, thought provoking lyrics accompanied with softer music that blends with the vocals beautifully. Somewhere We Will Find Our Place follows a handful of other studio albums released by Bryson. The album is full of beautiful, thought provoking, and honest lyrics paired with exceptional backing music and harmonies. "The Depression Dance" opens the album with a faster pace to the music and shows off the talent behind the instruments before the harmonized vocals come in. The longer you listen to the album, the more you appreciate the songs that you are listening to. You can start to hear the passion and feeling behind the lyrics and how the music is arranged in a way to compliment that. "Call Out", "Breathe", and "Rust & Fade" are all great songs to listen to, to get a feel for the rest of the album. Perhaps it's because it's my home province and I'm partial to songs about it, but "Ontario", in my opinion, is the best song on the album. While listening to it I had to start it over quite a few times just so I could listen to it again. It continues the album's theme of honest lyrics and is absolutely captivating. If you're like me and did not previously know of Jim Bryson, be sure to check out this album because you won't be forgetting his name any time soon. Those that already know of this Ottawa talent are sure to be pleased with this latest release. If you're looking for that album to throw on to relax to at the end of a long day or to listen to while you try and ignore the raging winter storms outside, Somewhere We Will Find Our Place is the one that you want.