We Are The Same, the new Tragically Hip album, is to be released in North America next April. Am I excited? What do you think? And even more so after reading this album bio by Joseph and Amanda Boyden:
"Recorded in 2008’s year of continental
excess and governmental Spending Gone Wild, The Tragically Hip’s latest
album, We Are the Same, brings its listeners something beyond the
unexpected: actual hope. Gord Downie’s lyrics—backed by a band ripe
with confidence and skill—tackle what we might assume had passed far
under the bridge. Should a first listen be given to a person recently
hatched from a time capsule, or a pod sent from beyond Mars, she might
believe that our essential uniting tenet, faith in humanity, still
exists. We are, indeed, the Same, and when this is recognized, a bit of
that space between us all shrinks.
We Are the Same isn’t only
levity and light, though. The band exposes our black eyes and our
crushes, the struggle of the worker in places as far flung as New
Orleans and Athabaska or as close as a Lake Ontario shore is to the
shore of Chicago. A trio of “Depression Suites” examines people trapped
in menial jobs. Part of the magic, however, is that The Tragically Hip
has never lost its working man’s roots; from their start in the tiny
clubs of Kingston and Toronto and Halifax and Vancouver to the world
stage, Gordon, Paul, Rob, Gord, and Johnny continue to sweat hard, and
the triumphant and often chilling trilogy is an ode to those who keep
the rest of us content.
Several of the tracks address a desire
for escape, possible or not, and most take a look at our sense of self
worth, both as individuals and as a larger community. We’re asked,
point blank: Don’t our First Peoples deserve reconciliation? The Hip is
neither apologetic nor afraid to question the state of our natural
environment, and our internal environments don’t escape unexamined
either. The inability to undo time and the idea of reflection also
appear again and again: how we reflect one another, how the moon
bounces back the light of the sun onto our communal view and our
communal problems, how mirrors give us more than just ourselves.
There’s
melancholy and anger here, driving guitar, and absolutely unforgettable
melody. The Hip, with songs like “Morning Moon” and “The Last Recluse,”
could even have somebody like Stephen Harper humming along in the back
of the limo. The powerhouse legend Bob Rock, once more on the dials,
tunes the words and music of one of our country’s great enigmas and
talents into something completely new and yet immediately recognizable.
This band, a dozen albums and 26 years in the making, shows us once
again not only why they are but who they are, snowshoeing through new
land while sowing seeds for all of us secret musicians and poets and
citizens hungry for a chance. And a change.
They’re
comfortable in their own skin, but the men of The Tragically Hip are
still hungry to explore. With the same heart of the boys who penned and
played “38 Years Old,” the band shows us 20 years later that wisdom
indeed comes with age, and that Heart doesn’t change. Finally, the
album’s cumulative effect is one of genuine comfort—or maybe much
needed consolation. This iconic band, at the peak of its powers, rests
a warm hand on its listeners’ shoulders. Downie speaks to each of us,
individually, and the effect is uncanny. This song is for me. This song
speaks to what I’m going through. I’m actually not alone.
Under the pillow
I can hear you whisperin’ are you going through something?
Well honey are you going through something?
Are you going through something?
Then I – I – I – I I am too
Then I – I – I – I I am too
It’s
all in here, grinding stadium anthems and love songs you want to sing
to your newborn baby. The Hip isn’t afraid to show a soft side, and
we’re all the better for it. This release is a cry for understanding, a
whisper and scream to our world, our country, or communities, and our
families. From the gorgeous and crafted first track to the bold and
elegiac last, The Tragically Hip’s latest gem is something prophetic,
nurturing, and essential. Every listen brings further
understanding—nothing new for a band with decades of depth—but The
Tragically Hip couldn’t have predicted a race’s dream fulfilled, a
choking environment’s gasp at fresh air, a world’s reconsideration of a
continent, without a full measure of faith and hope. It’s for these
reasons this album is bread, water, love. "
The first single, Morning Moon, can already be discovered on the Hip MySpace page. More country-like than your typical Hip sound, but I like it, especially the close harmony and the cello in the mid-section... Is it possible that the moon shining brightly through our kitchen window this morning was a sign?
