Tuesday, November 27, 2018

MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MEGAN BONNELL - SEPARATE ROOMS

Bonnell continues to gather acclaim for her third album, Separate Rooms. The title cut, co-written with Donovan Woods, grabbed the #1 spot on CBC Radio 2's chart, and the follow-up, Your Voice, landed at #4. She's been doing a ton of touring, a favourite road pal of Great Lake Swimmers, and about to start an East Coast jaunt with The Once.

Separate Rooms covers a lot of styles, ranging from piano ballads to folk songwriting to intense, intricate production numbers with tons of sounds. She has a highly appealing voice, which can leap into higher note flights and go to calm and soothing melodies in the same tune. The track California goes from country-fantasy with pedal steel to quirky rhythm sections, Radio Silence is an ethereal piano number with strings, while Someday I'm Going To Kill You is 80's alt-pop. At the heart of the collection are Bonnell's essential and powerful lyrics. "Just let me lay here, no one has to know that I'm having a breakdown," we hear, not overly dramatic or emotional, just part of life for many. The title cut looks at the downs in relationships, just as important as the ups  These are challenging and mature themes, and all the various parts and styles add up to quite a meaningful album.

Catch Bonnell on tour starting tonight, with The Once.

Tuesday, Nov. 27 - Charlottetown, The Mack
Wednesday, Nov. 28 - Riverview, N.B., Riverview Arts Centre
Thursday, Nov. 29 - Halifax, St. Matthew's United Church
Friday, Nov. 30 - Fredericton, Wilmot United Church
Saturday, Dec. 1 - Pictou, N.S., deCoste Performing Arts Centre


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