Album Review: Jonas Shandel - Jonas Shandel (Nowhere Town)

This first solo outing for Vancouver-based Jonas Shandel indicates that he has all the necessary credentials to go it alone with no trouble at all. Already equipped with some studio experience having recorded two albums with Headwater, MY OLD FRIEND (2006) and LAY YOU DOWN (2008), the singer-songwriter presents six assured self-penned songs and one cover, a pretty faithful version of Peter Gabriel's Mercy Street. 

Kate Zisman's feather and leaf illustrations gracing the cover of this beautifully packaged mini-album, reflects the delicacy of the content, shaped and formed by Shandel with a fine supporting cast of musicians including multi-instrumentalist Matthew Rogers and Andrea Eder on vocals, calling in fellow Headwater bandmates Tim Tweedale on lapsteel and pedal steel to play throughout and Matt Bryant to add a bit of mandolin on Burial Ground. Other musicians include Shawn Hall on harmonica and a whole bunch of additional singers.

Matthew Rogers' production is both graceful and empathetic, allowing for space on each track and maintaining a common thread throughout, even on the stripped down and tender Morning. The standout song is Drinking the Water, which makes a good companion to Mercy Street, each incorporating the choir-like vocal ensemble of Andrea Eder, Cam Grant, Joanna Chapman-Smith and Ricardo Khyatte. The uplifting vocal flurries have a tendency to draw you in, so much so that it makes me wonder whether Gabriel should have a crack at Drinking the Water too. Well anything is possible.