Whitney K

★★★★

Two Years MAPLE DEATH.

CD/DL/LP

Lo-fi Canadian explores wobbly path away from Americana.

Konner Whitney may hail from the lessthan white hot rock’n’roll capital of Whitehorse, Yukon (pop. about the same as Bishop Auckland), but that doesn’t prevent him from making a remarkably sophisticated musical blend. Taking ingredients from Mark E Smith, Lou Reed, Jeff Tweedy and others, his debut album is charmingly – but deceptively – lo-fi and ramshackle. Although rooted in the sounds associated with plaid shirts and woolly denim jackets, from the scratchy opening of Good Morning, Whitney spins into Americana’s outer reaches as he charts two years of personal change and self-development. Occasional overearnest missteps are more than compensated for by the tongue-in-cheek longing of Me Or The Party #165 and the acquiescence to love of poignant closer Maryland, inventing exciting new directions for roots music all along the way.