Ivy Mairi – No Talker. Latent Recordings, 2011
Hidden treasures. They could be that place just a few meters off the the beaten path, the place with the magically breathtaking view. Or that little restaurant where you’ll get a full stomach and be met with a smile but not have to worry about breaking the bank. One of Canada’s hidden musical treasures is Toronto’s Ivy Mairi. Hidden in a music scene full of talented musicians, or even hidden in her other band Bruce Peninsula. With No Talker, she makes a name for herself, letting the music do all the talking.
No Talker is an album that knows what it is doing. It knows when it is time to grab the listeners attention such as on the track “Kenyatta”. A song that continually builds up, telling a narrative that makes you want to hear what is going to happen line after line while an increasingly layered song is unfolding simutaneously. The album knows when to throw in a fun folk barn burning foot tapping song like “Scar”.
Or when to remind you that something special on guitar is happing like on “Just Go”. A laid back song built around heart filled vocals that can give you a “wow” moment when all elements of the song are closely paid attention to.
No Talker knows when to turn up the electric guitar a little at the end of the album to pull you back in with the title track “No Talker”. It knows how to make you want to close your eyes with a bare bones album closer as it does with “Wintry City”, a song where sometimes it is hard to tell if the words will come out as anything more than a whisper.
The album has a timeless feel to it, that nostalgic and comforting sound that comes with the plucking of a banjo, picking of the mandolin, strum of the guitar, and a voice that gently commands your attention. At times it can seem a little repetitive or bland, but even those moments have the potential to turn into something special. An album that can leave you with that satisfied feeling of stumbling across something you’ll come back to time after time.
Ivy Mairi – Something of Love (Southern Souls session)
