Canadian Musician - January/February 2018 | Page 38

RAISING
TH EIR
VO I C E S
By Andrew King
As
of right
now, just
a few days
before
Christmas,
there’s a chance that U.S. a
capella group Pentatonix will
have the best-selling holiday
album for the fourth year in a
row. That’d be an impressive
feat indeed, but even three
confirmed and consecutive
years at the top is something
almost unrivalled in the past
several decades.
It’s an interesting juxta-
position that, at a time when
the charts are so dominated
by tracks created mostly (or
entirely) in the digital domain,
a group whose output is com-
prised entirely of human voices
is amassing such impressive
achievements. Couple that
with the success of media like
the Pitch Perfect films or Glee’s
six-season run and you’ve got
strong evidence for the fact
that people are just naturally
drawn to the human voice.
With that, we wanted to
profile a few innovative artists
who are doing very interest-
ing things with the oldest
music-making tool in human
history.
38 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N
The Good Lovelies
Shape
Shifting
The Good Lovelies have built a prosperous
career atop their unique blend of genres, eras,
and of course, voices.
Their latest LP, Shapeshifters, finds the trio of
Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough, and Sue Passmore
pushing their brand of country-tinged folk mu-
sic to a new pop-inspired plateau while keeping
anchored in the wholesome, harmony-rich
sounds of their past releases. The result is an
inspired and compelling collection that’s sure
to earn them some new admirers while satisfy-
ing their longtime fans; however, while Brooks
is pleased with the balance they’ve struck, she
says they weren’t really looking to appease
anyone but themselves.
“We sort of let go of a lot of that, ‘Let’s
make sure it sounds like us’ idea in the studio,”
she explains. “The way we sing together and
blend our vocals – that’s what makes it sound
like us, as opposed to which genre we’re play-
ing in or whatever else we’re aiming for.”
For The Good Lovelies, voices are more
than just voices; “they’re instruments to us,”
Brooks explains. “Sometimes we’re singing
parts that might otherwise be a violin, or even
horns. For us, it’s about more than just getting
lyrics out.”
In that regard, Shapeshifters showcases a
new incarnation of the group’s now-signature
sound, but one that still has clear connections
to the ground they’ve covered in the past –
from the simple feel-good melodies of their
earliest work to the more varied and adventur-
ous territory covered on 2015’s Burn the Plan.
The Good Lovelies travelled from their
respective homes in Ontario and Newfound-
land to Nova Scotia in order to cut the record