Don’t take Cowboy Junkies for granted

COWBOY JUNKIES “ALL THAT RECKONING” (LATENT)

This venerable Toronto band now has 16 studio recordings under their belt (depending how you count). This, like 2010’s “Remnin Park” and 1996’s “Lay It Down,” is easily one of their best from the back half of their discography. It’s their first album of original material in eight years, so maybe guitarist Michael Timmins has been quietly crafting this strong set of songs since then, or maybe his work with Tom Wilson’s LeE HARVEY OSMOND inspired him here. Or maybe they finally realized what their secret weapon has been for 35 years now.

As a longtime fan, I’d propose this theory: the best Cowboy Junkies albums are the ones where bassist Alan Anton is brought to the fore. Why? Anton’s a fine bass player, but certainly not showy, and melodic only when he needs to be. He’s less noticeable than the musical genius of Jeff Bird, who provides musical colour on a variety of instruments, and it’s Michael Timmins who provides most of the fireworks — subtle and otherwise — during his guitar solos’ unique take on bluesy psychedelia, which are still refreshingly raw after all these years, refusing to succumb to slickness. Singer Margo Timmins is reliably consistent, engaging, and gets even better with age (as does drummer Peter Timmins). On the band’s lesser records she can’t prop up a weak song on her own — and thankfully she doesn’t have to here.

So what is it about Anton? It’s less about what he actually plays, than the fact that when he’s up front in the mix beside Margo, everything else that makes the Cowboy Junkies great is dispersed judiciously for maximum effect. Less has always meant more for this band; the more layers they pile on, the less effective they’ve been. When those guitar swirls dance in and around Anton’s bass lines — regardless of the tempo — they weave a magical tapestry that elevates this band above all others in the same wheelhouse. It’s not what you have: it’s how you use it.

All that said, one of the best songs here is the closing track, “The Possessed,” which is mostly just Margo and a ukulele. And no, it’s not remotely twee, in part because, 30 years after “Misguided Angel,” this band still writes great songs about Satan.

Elsewhere, “All That Reckoning” is filled with the distemper of the day, with musings on hate and fear and a chorus that goes, “Sing me a song of America.” But it never gets clunky or preachy; Michael is too careful a writer to do that, and his character studies are as vivid as always. Just like the accompanying music, everything is in its right place.

When the Cowboy Junkies come through your town this year — they play Guelph’s River Run Centre on Oct. 12 — don’t take them for granted. And give the bassist some love.

Stream: “All That Reckoning Pt. 1,” “Wooden Stairs,” “Shining Teeth”

HUBERT LENOIR “DARLÈNE” (SIMONE)

If there’s one francophone record likely to make this year’s Polaris Music Prize shortlist (announced Tuesday, July 17), it’s this one, by a 23-year-old who put his punk band on hold to make a genre-bending pop album, based on a new novel by his friend Noémie D. Leclerc, where the first five tracks jump from jazz piano to ’70s glam to Black Sabbath to gospel-inspired pop to Fleetwood Mac, with plenty of tenor saxophone all over the arrangements, which occasionally nod to Joe Jackson’s 1984 album “Body and Soul.” It’s totally bonkers in a way that only the Québecois can pull off — or maybe the Flaming Lips, on a good day. Is it a retro record? Absolutely, but it’s also audacious in its scope, and Lenoir has the songwriting chops, the production values, plenty of earworms and the pure charisma to pull it all off. And yes, francophobes, there is one song in English (“Wild and Free”), so you have no excuse not to start there and then dive deeper.

Stream: “Fille de personne II,” “Ton hotel,” “J-C”

LYDIA KÉPINSKI “PREMIER JUIN” (INDEPENDENT)

Another francophone who could find herself on the Polaris Music Prize shortlist this year is this 24-year-old Montrealer, who won the $10,000 Francouvertes prize last year for a new Quebec artist. Listening to her debut, it’s more than obvious why: she’s a fully-formed songwriter whose melodies verve in unusual directions, while her music rarely subscribes to conventional chord progressions and her arrangements combine the sparseness of indie-rock solo performers with lush arrangements and rich electronics — both of which are used sparingly. The focus is on Képinski’s remarkably nuanced and assured vocals. All of this displays not just remarkable talent, but a self-assuredness and confidence rarely heard on a debut record. This artist arrives as a complete package, sounding like she’s already conquered the world, even if the world doesn’t quite know it yet.

Stream: “Les routes indolores,” “Premier juin,” “Maïa”