Rob Szabo

After toiling in the indie rock trenches for two decades, Rob Szabo has developed into a singer-songwriter that deserves to be mentioned in any conversation about true Canadian musical survivors. His endurance is on full display on his fifth solo album, although it's also a concentrated effort to start fresh. In keeping with that theme, many of the songs are a bittersweet mix of hope and regret, all held together by Szabo's growing skills as a producer. He has always had a flair for the dramatic as a songwriter, but the dark shading throughout Rob Szabo, aided by Bryden Baird on trumpet and Mike Olsen on cello, lifts the album far beyond anything Szabo has done to this point. This is a fine, mature effort from an artist hitting his stride.