Categories : Country + Western, Music Reviews, Rock + Pop, Top Rated.
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Rating: 5 / 5 Reviewer: Greg Hutton |
Most Carolyn Mark records evoke images of a continuous party that would, in all likelihood, be the most fun party you ever attended. Red wine, new best friends, and food are a few common themes, especially on 2002’s Terrible Hostess and the excellent 2004 album The Pros and Cons of Collaboration. This summary, however, overlooks Mark’s ability to break your heart (see a ‘Not A Doll’ or ‘Bigger Bed’ from Pros and Cons). Mark’s self-deprecating wit may have downplayed her recognition on those albums that with every great party comes a great hangover. 2007’s introspective Nothing Is Free provided clearer evidence that Mark was exploring the business end of songwriting.
Enter Toronto’s NQ Arbuckle, led by Neville Quinlan, a band who have established themselves as an important force in Canadian folk/roots/rock, thanks in great part to 2008’s solid Xok. Road warriors themselves, the band complements Mark’s style with songs about small-town love and regret, life as a touring band, and booze.
Considered altogether, it makes sense then that the two should come together to make Let’s Just Stay Here, an album where Mark and Quinlan shared song writing duties (with the scales of responsibility tipped in Mark’s favour). From the wails of a singing saw and Mark’s usually belting voice reduced to whispers that open ‘All Time Low’ it’s obvious that the party has, at least for now, subsided. The album literally has nowhere to go but up from its first line “Down in Death Valley on the day of the dead / At the lowest point in North America.” The vast open spaces of the desert inhabited only by ghosts provide a polar opposite from the post-last-call kitchen parties from Mark’s earlier records.
As the record progresses, the lowest lows are replaced by the middling mediums of everyday life. Songs such as ‘Officer Down’ and ‘The 2nd Time’ detail the adjustment to life at home after being on the road, and the possibilities of settling down with family and 9-5 work. In the latter song, Mark sings “They all want jobs with good pay, benefits, and perks / I’m good at doing nothing at all / And making it look like work.” It’s not as though Mark is envious of a traditional work day, but with downtime comes this type of introspection that makes it easy to identify your place in the world.
The album’s title track is also its closer, in which Quinlan and Mark have either turned down the invitation to the after party, or have stopped driving for the night short of their destination in a place with a ranking somewhere shy of three stars. It’s not as bleak an ending as it sounds – they obviously escaped Death Valley relatively unscathed, and the whispers and singing saws have been replaced by the pleasantly struck piano keys. The song does not end the album with the idea that either Mark or Quinlan have given up – they’re just tired of driving for the night. Plus, they’ll need plenty of sleep to prepare for the next day’s shenanigans.
