With his 17th album, The Vivian Line, Ron Sexsmith elaborates on previous work, including such standout albums as 1997’s Juno Award-winning Other Songs, 2001’s Blue Boy, 2008’s Exit Strategy of the Soul, and his previous set, 2020’s Hermitage. Per usual, his […]
Ron Sexsmith takes listeners on a dreamy, pastel-tinged vacation of the mind with Hermitage, a batch of 14 songs that range from loosely tropical swing-alongs to forlorn lullabies. Often backed by a simple piano line, the melodies in this album […]
Early on is his set, Ron Sexsmith commented that he wasn’t sure that anyone was going to turn up. Coming the night after the atrocity of the murders at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester I can see how he […]
How does he love thee? Let us count the ways. Ron Sexsmith opens The Last Rider (out April 21 on Compass Records) knowing that whether it’s love or loss, “It Won’t Last for Long,” offering wistful, bittersweet solace. He loves […]
“My mother died in 2012, and her spirit lends herself well to Compostela,” Canadian singer-songwriter Jenn Grant says of her latest release. “I meet people again and again who tell me how this album has been a healing tool for […]
Lucinda Williams with Doug Paisley live at Massey Hall – Toronto, ON – Nov. 21, 2014 Right as the clock struck 9 p.m., the grand dame of alt-country strolled to the centre of the stage and picked up her acoustic […]
In Kinks classics such as “Days”, “This Is Where I Belong” and “Waterloo Sunset”, Ray Davies mined a vein of bittersweet wistfulness that other rockers have rarely approached. Until Ron Sexsmith. This may be heresy, but over the last decade, […]
Perpetually undiscovered Canadian singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith had dabbled in everything from country to reggae to chamber pop before settling on Beth Orton-like folk-electronica for 2002’s fine Cobblestone Runway. Though his latest, Retriever, ditches the emphasis on beats for a more […]
When this baby-faced Canadian teamed with producers Steve Earle and Ray Kennedy for 2001’s Blue Boy, the biggest surprise was the twangtrust’s minimal imprint on the music. Where Earle traditionally makes his presence felt on anything he touches, the producers […]
For every song youve ever heard, how many more have died at birth, Canadian singer Ron Sexsmith wonders aloud on This Song, the leadoff track from his fourth album. Sexsmith must come by his curiosity about the fate of songs […]
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