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Wait well worth it for latest offering from the SkyDiggers:
Bill Robertson for The StarPhoenix, Audiofile
Skydiggers
Bitter Sweet Harmony
MapleMusic Recordings
After five years away from the studio and one live album in between, here's the Skydiggers with their latest, Bitter Sweet Harmony. They love that acoustic guitar flourish and they get right at it with the catchy Anything For You. By Fall Apart and Horseshoe Bay the backbeat has become not only insistent, but a hammering presence. Even Elizabeth Josephine, which starts quietly, even plaintively, gains momentum and in comes that snare drum.
So they put on the brakes with Jane's Gone, a delightfully quavering tune about loss, then follow that quiet number up with Sweet Heartache, more of the same bittersweet loss. Yes, the album title is quite accurate. The rest of the album plays with various rhythms and levels of intensity, the acoustic guitars layered and luscious, and ends with the terse and very snappy Everybody's Girl.
Inside the CD booklet the band says, "Thanks for waiting." The wait is worth it.
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Chart Magazine Review:
Ah, the 'Diggers are back! After a five-year hiatus, our favourite folkies have returned, minus Peter Cash, but adding Paul MacLeod, Joel Anderson and guest like producers Ian Blurton and Hawksley Workman. Bittersweet Harmony embraces a variety of sounds. Opener "Anything for You" is classic Skydiggers and "Wherever You Go" will make you swear that you've heard it before. That doesn't mean that it's formulaic, only that it's really good. Moving from twang to quiet reflection and back to upbeat singalongs ("Get Back Out In the Road"), Bittersweet Harmony is exactly what its title suggests. |
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From the Winnipeg Free Press:
News of a new album from the Skydiggers might evoke a bit of eye-rolling.
After all, it’s been five years (barring a 2000 live album) since the
Toronto folk-rockers last plied their rootsy tunes, and the time for that
kind of jingle-jangle pleasantness may have passed.
Bittersweet Harmony is a nice surprise, however. It isn’t going to set the
world on fire, but it’s not mired in the past, either. A couple of tunes
wouldn’t be out of place on 1992’s Restless, but others sound almost like
the Tragically Hip.
The expectations of all-acoustic strumming are foiled by the addition of
understated accordion, trumpet and keyboards, while the quavering quality of
Andy Maize’s familiar, nasal vocals is a perfect complement to the air of
hard-won maturity in the lyrics. In stores Tuesday. HHH
— Jill Wilson |
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By Jason Schneider
March 03, 2003
From the opening chime of "Anything For You," it's amazing how much the 'Diggers' trademark sound has been missed over the past five years. Then, they had just regrouped from the departure of co-singer/songwriter Peter Cash with the at-times brilliantly innovative Desmond's Hip City and seemed poised to enter a new creative era. But unfortunate circumstances didn't allow that to fully occur, so the appearance of Bittersweet Harmony brings with it both a sense of nostalgia and hope that once again the band will be the creative force in Canada it was in the early '90s. The nostalgia derives from the fact that BH overall returns to the twangy power pop of their early albums, although spiced up by the production of Ian Blurton and (on three tracks) Hawksley Workman. The hope comes from the strong songwriting turns by Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson, who both have refined the experiments of Desmond's Hip City into a more finely balanced mix with the band's traditional strengths. Still, "Horseshoe Bay" is a tough, Crazy Horse-styled rocker, and "Sweet Heartache," featuring probably Maize's most moving vocal yet, stretches the band into new emotional territory. If there is any complaint, it's that new kid Paul MacLeod is showcased on only one song, his infectious "See You Again." While it was clear that Maize and Finlayson weren't looking to replace Cash with another singer/songwriter, incorporating MacLeod's talents more can only enhance the creative wave the 'Diggers are currently riding. Bittersweet Harmony already has my vote for comeback of the year. |
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