You are hereAlbum Review: Murray McLauchlan - Human Writes (True North)
Album Review: Murray McLauchlan - Human Writes (True North)
Soft-spoken Murray McLauchlan delivers some heartfelt songs with no small measure of warmth and tenderness on this his first solo album in six years. Something of a Canadian national treasure, McLauchlan has forty-years in music behind him, with no less than eleven Juno awards on his mantelpiece and several more nominations. Upon hearing the clarity in his voice once again, we are invited into the songwriter's world and are immediately reminded of his command over storytelling, with this collection of highly personal self-penned songs, some written with the help of songwriting collaborator Alan Rhody.
With songs such as the infectious Painting Floors, with its whistle and trombone duet and the almost surreal notion of painting yourself an exit door when you have painted yourself into a corner, you find a world that you don't actually mind entering and being a part of. The songs are mature and highly accomplished, such as the piano-led Run Away to Sea and Almost Constantly Confused, both incorporating richly observed arrangements.
Joining McLauchlan on HUMAN WRITES are Victor Bateman on upright bass, Dennis Pendrith on electric bass, Burke Carroll on steel guitar and dobro and Duncan McLauchlan on valve trombone, whilst McLauchlan does the rest, either on piano or on his handmade 1938 acoustic, apparently chosen for its soulfully haunting sound.
Allan Wilkinson
Northern Sky
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