Timber Timbre: A great album about a toxic world

Depending on how you count 'em, this is Taylor Kirk and friends' fourth or sixth studio album. Along the way, the Canadians have gained a rep for spooky blues and ghostly strings, their musical canvas changing with every new set of songs.

Here, on an album inspired by both the political climate of the past 18 months and the man-made destruction of the natural world, the musical cues are in thrall to the synths and electronics of the 1980s. There's been a bunch of such revisionism of late (and more will surely come to honour David Bowie and Prince), but Timber Timbre veer away from pastiche by virtue of Kirk's astute songcraft and distinctive croon, which provide the main focus.

Songs such as Sewer Blues and Floating Cathedral are full of atmospheric textures and dramatic embellishments that keep your attention very much on the ominous pull and pall of the lyrics and imagery. A great work about a toxic world.

[ timbertimbre.com ]