This is the third solo CD from Kevin Hearn, talented multi-instrumentalist of Barenaked Ladies. Like the band, this album of quirky folk-pop is full of off-beat, humorous arrangements, but the lyrical content is much more introspective and even dark.

Witness the lines, "Through the air/And over the sea/You're in chains, far away from me" and "Do you remember watching dolphins/From the beach?/What if all happy memories/Were in reach?" (These are taken from the lyrics reprinted in the 16-page full-color CD booklet festooned in Kevin's colorful and imaginative, childlike drawings.)

Part of the darkness draws on the fact that this memorable keyboard-prominent indie folk-pop album draws on Kevin's successful battle with chronic myelogenous leukemia, as did the previous H-Wing. Not quite as dark as that album, this finds Hearn stepping out of this admitted "rough part of the memory lane district" into a sunnier, if still reflective, neighborhood.

- Rambles
written by Tom Schulte
published 20 November 2004

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