Paul MacLeod

Here's a short, sweet and simple offering from acclaimed Ontario songsmith Paul MacLeod. It's perhaps too short, at just over 25 minutes, making it more of a long EP. Recorded in just two days, with producer Lucas Stagg, the strictly solo work has a spontaneous charm to it. There's a nice variety of material as well, ranging from a soothing guitar instrumental (the aptly titled "Instrumental") to an excellent, stripped-down version of Teenage Fanclub favourite "December" (the only non-original here). "Change Your Life" has a Skydiggers feel, unsurprising given that MacLeod did a stint in that combo. There's a darker tone to "Trickster" and "Stop" (sample lyric: "in turmoil you go fire engine red"), and he gets acerbic on "Another White Band," expressing his dislike of "another white band trying to sing this whole world down." MacLeod's plaintive vocals are always convincing, making this a nice effort from a rather undervalued talent.