Ron Sexsmith usually sounds like a homebody, and not in a bad way. He's a man who writes songs about people in a way that's warm and just a touch sentimental without getting sticky or maudlin, and his stories have a recognizable quality that acknowledges the commonalities of the human experience, told from a perspective that makes them feel special. 2020's Hermitage was recorded at his home in the suburbs of Stratford, Ontario, and sounded like the work of a man thoroughly enjoying making music while also puttering around ...
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Ron Sexsmith usually sounds like a homebody, and not in a bad way. He's a man who writes songs about people in a way that's warm and just a touch sentimental without getting sticky or maudlin, and his stories have a recognizable quality that acknowledges the commonalities of the human experience, told from a perspective that makes them feel special. 2020's Hermitage was recorded at his home in the suburbs of Stratford, Ontario, and sounded like the work of a man thoroughly enjoying making music while also puttering around the house. However, after a couple years of being locked in by circumstance rather than choice (a global pandemic, for instance), practically anyone would want to get outside for a while, so for 2023's The Vivian Line, Sexsmith headed to Nashville to work with producer Brad Jones, who played bass and keys on a few of his albums of the late '90s and early 2000s. In terms of the songs, the record sounds very much like the work of the guy who made Hermitage, a fellow who takes joy in observing the small things in life and how much they can come to matter. But working with Jones, Sexsmith has tricked up the arrangements in ways he hasn't embraced in his more recent work, and in some ways The Vivian Line recalls the smart Baroque pop that Mitchell Froom and Tchad Blake conjured for Sexsmith on his first three albums. However, instead of using stacks of tape-loop keyboards and vintage synths, Jones and Sexsmith used actual strings and woodwinds, as well as more organic keyboard and guitar sounds. The music has a warmth and naturalism that puts his songs in their best light, and the grand irony is The Vivian Line captures the sound of Sexsmith, the neighborhood's resident genius songwriter, in a more effective way than Hermitage. There's a playful quality in several of the tunes that's witty without trivializing his characters, whether they're converting an old barn into a home or realizing how lucky in love they've been, and when he's feeling a bit sad, as in "Flower Boxes" and "When Our Love Was New," it feels real and honest, never forced. On "Outdated and Antiquated," Sexsmith seems content to seem a bit behind the times ("Outdated and antiquated, I belong in the past/The future's uncertain, and today can't last"), but he's smart enough to know it works for him, and on The Vivian Line, he hits the sweet spot between challenging himself and not fixing what isn't broke. It's a gem. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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