Nearly four years after Canadian singer-songwriter Frank Smith (of Sills & Smith fame) and multi-instrumentalist/co-writer/producer Phillip Victor Bova released the haunting and simmering Tendrils under the name Halcyon Phase comes another stirring record. On the curiously titled Critical Misunderstandings On the Precipice, the Canadian duo is backed by a pair of session musicians and a rotating cast of female vocalists that bring added tenderness and color to several songs.
Musically, this 14-track set flirts with pastoral prog, psychedelic folk and indie pop -- anchored by Smith’s lived-in, vulnerable vocals that often sound like I imagine Warren Zevon might sound today were he still with us. “The Pledge” serves up some twangy electric guitar, “We Feel” conjures late-night jazz piano and “Our Love Was in Danger” flirts with old-school soul while also managing to be one of the most rocking tunes on the record.
Lyrically, much like its predecessor, Critical Misunderstandings On the Precipice teeters on the edge of deep topics like social injustice, climate change, mental illness and addiction. As the liner notes admit, “a thread lamenting the rapid passage of time and aging runs through it.” Indeed, this is a record that demands your attention, your tolerance, your very humanity -- and it arrives at a time when those virtues feel more vital to survival than ever.
Track Listing
1. Mean Streets
2. Gravity
3. Thinking of You
4. AI World
5. Blank Page
6. Our Love Was In Danger
7. The Pledge
8. We Feel
9. A Fever Dream
10. The Future
11. Not Enough
12. Quietly Fading
13. The Room Spins Around
14. Rest
Printer Friendly Page
Send to a Friend
