Timber Timbre’s freaky formula keeps evolving

Timber Timbre

“Sincerely, Future Pollution” (Arts and Crafts)

Here’s something I never in a million years thought I’d witness: a six-year-old child doing a funky dance to a Timber Timbre song. Yet that’s what happened one of the first times I played “Grifting,” from the group’s sixth album. Normally purveyors of bleak, backwoods blues with twangy guitars and ’70s synths, Timber Timbre pulled out a clavinet to make an unusually groovy beat for the track in question, which isn’t as fish-outof-water as a longtime fan might suspect.

Sexy, slinky grooves have slowly been permeating Timber Timbre’s music as the band’s sound became more expansive, most notably on 2014’s “Hot Dreams.” Other than “Grifting,” there are no surprises here, other than the fact that this group manages to milk endless possibilities out of a predictable format, one in which bandleader Taylor Kirk’s voice is drenched in reverb singing lyrics like “Now I come before you moving through this tomb of vapour-y perfume and fog-filled rooms,” one in which Simon Trottier and Mathieu Charbonneau extract unsettling sounds from their instruments, one in which Tindersticks meet Tangerine Dream and groove to dub reggae and early Peter Gabriel records.

It would be lazy to dismiss a band this experimental as formulaic. Timber Timbre have a formula, to be sure, but one that keeps evolving and getting more freaky as they go; witness the Vocoders and completely wiggy, Fripp-esque guitar solo in “Moment.” And yet they’re simultaneously sweeter and more accessible; the album closes with “Floating Cathedral,” one of the loveliest songs in their catalogue — surprising us right until the end.

Stream: “Moment,” “Sewer Blues,” “Bleu Nuit”

Nelly Furtado “The Ride” (Sony)

“It’s been a long time coming … the cold hard truth is that I can make it without you.” So goes the opening track on Nelly Furtado’s first album in five years, her first after getting out of her old record contract, almost 10 years after her multimillion-selling collaboration with Timbaland, “Loose.” She admits that in the time since we last heard from her, she faced a creative crisis and was in desperate need of inspiration. “I don’t feel nothing at all / come on, resuscitate me,” she sings on “Flatline.”

She found her muse in Dallas, Texas: producer John Congleton, known for his work with adventurous indie artists like St. Vincent and Angel Olsen rather than chart fare. Furtado didn’t tell her label what she was up to; when she presented them with the Congleton sessions, they didn’t hear a hit — and so Furtado struck out on her own. “Don’t sell me no pipe dreams,” she sings on the album’s most affecting ballad.

Furtado has made a career out of left turns, and here she finds herself (again) in an odd spot: a former pop star reinventing herself as a mature singer/songwriter with lush production that hints toward her past — straddling two worlds while sounding at home in neither. That’s not to take away from the merits of “The Ride” — of which there are many — but it’s hard to tell what its audience is. Congleton’s presence brings obvious comparisons to St. Vincent; is that artist’s audience likely to flock to a Furtado record?

That’s not the point, of course: the music is what matters. Congleton’s sonic touch suits her well, and her voice — as always — is in fine form, as one of the few modern singers to disavow the use of AutoTune. Furtado does indeed sound rejuvenated throughout, a sentiment she explores a bit too obviously in closing track “Phoenix.” Now that her spark has been lit once again, she should get herself back in Congleton’s studio again as soon as possible.

Stream: “Flatline,” “Sticks and Stones,” “Pipe Dreams”

Andrew McPherson “Bardo” (independent)

Guelph studio hound Andrew McPherson has a busy musical career exploring global beats with the acclaimed ensemble Eccodek, chilling out with the ambient project Peppermoth, while paying some bills doing voice-over work — for which his rich, deep voice is perfectly suited. Every few years, however, he pulls out his guitar and writes some songs to satisfy another other side of him: the David Bowie fan that is also well-connected to the Ontario folk scene. After a tumultuous period in his personal life, he assembled this group of songs and employed heavyweights like Jeff Bird (Cowboy Junkies), Morgan Doctor (Kevin Drew) and Kevin Breit (everybody) to bring them to life. McPherson doesn’t sing in his other projects, so it’s a pleasure to hear his voice here. His songs are more successful on the softer side, where the textures in his production — and the tonality of his voice — can luxuriate; the closer he veers toward rock music, the less interesting it is. On record, anyway; considering the calibre of musicians he surrounds himself, expect some at least some fireworks at the hometown CD release show at the eBar in Guelph, next Thursday, April 13.

Stream: “Shoreline Stares Pt. 2,” “Strong at My Back,” “Backyard”