Describing the sound of Doug Paisley’s music isn’t a difficult thing to do: his rustic folk recalls the likes of Neil Young and Wilco. The eponymous debut of this Toronto-born musician is just churning with such critic-baiting comparisons. Yet the album is charming with its modestly quiet arrangements, featuring a subtlety and restraint that contrasts to the bombast turned out by most indie-rock/alt-country acts from the past few years. Paisley’s music feels different. It feels unencumbered by commercial or critical pressures. To sum up the point, it seems strikingly honest. Take “Broken in Two”, a track depicting the aftermath of a break-up, surely conventional song-subject, yet one that Paisley’s subdued vocals and lyrical imagery lend a genuine pathos to (“Is this what you wanted/You can’t keep your love to yourself/Now you say your heart is haunted/Hell, will you give it to somebody else?”). While he has been touted ad nausea that Paisley’s songs “represent the American malaise” (whatever that means) a better fit description may be that his songs narrate rural distress and heart break, much in the vein of Will Oldham or Bon Iver. Sure, the Toronto native may have not broken any new ground in all of this, but he has joined in on a tradition of singer-song writers that ensure the quality of ‘the song’ above all else. For music lovers growing tired of bombast and outright insincerity featured in so many contemporary artists out there, here is an honest, modest, and charming little album.
Listen To: Broken in Two, Take My Hand, We Weather
RIYL: Neil Young, Will Oldham, Wilco
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