Typically, when I deeply admire a musician, I instinctively despise those who imitate them, driven by loyalty and a craving for authenticity. Yet when singer-songwriters arrive who echo the spirit of Elliott Smith, I’m swept away. It isn’t that he single-handedly created acoustic guitars or moving lyrics, but he certainly carved out something singular, and I can’t fault other musicians for following in his wake. If I ever wrote music myself, I’d probably want to sound like him as well.
Ontario native Nixon Boyd has been a cornerstone of the indie rock outfit Hollerado since 2007. Hollerado craft a distinctly different shade of indie rock compared to Boyd’s solo material—catchy anthems infused with power-pop euphoria. When Boyd was nearly finished with his debut solo album Every Time We Turn A Corner, a bag containing the hard drives with the project was stolen from his car, forcing him to rebuild from the ground up. I don’t necessarily subscribe to the idea that “Everything happens for a reason,” but I tend to view it as a sensible stance in most scenarios, including this one. Listening to Every Time We Turn A Corner, I can’t imagine it turning out any other way.
The first track I heard from Boyd was the album’s lead single “You Will Always Get Away With It.” I was instantly drawn by the Elliott Smith-esque mood, yet what lingered long after the song faded—the hook: “You will always get away with it/ Anyway, yeah.” Like Smith, Boyd withholds more than he reveals; he doesn’t spell out how it makes him feel, instead letting the implication stand on its own, which proves far more potent than any plain statement. On some listens, the narrator seems frustrated by someone who somehow escapes consequences; on others, there’s a sense of admiration. True writers understand that what you leave unsaid can carry as much weight as what you explicitly convey.
There are times when Boyd seems to be testing how compact his refrains can become. In “Sleepover,” the refrain collapses to two words: “Home again.” In “Blindfolded,” it’s merely the title, and that minimal phrase suffices as he sings about feeling blindfolded and being willing to follow someone anywhere with eyes closed.
Every Time We Turn A Corner isn’t a mere pastiche of Elliott Smith. The title track, which opens the record, carries a sunlit, surf-tinged vibe, reminiscent of Mac DeMarco in a particularly serene moment. As with “You Will Always Get Away With It,” the catchiness comes from the repetition of the refrain, which in this case repeats the album’s title phrasing. Yet he expands the line by looping the word “turn”—a repeated motif that helps hammer the sentiment home with greater force.
“Sleepover” also delves into existential loneliness through the lens of a reserved, anxious woman who endures a profound homesickness that ebbs and flows, the kind of ache that can inhabit a bedroom all by itself. The idea of “home” recurs throughout the album, including the closing track “How I Know I’m Home,” where home is less a place than a sensation—a longing for someone. Boyd’s knack for packing vivid emotions into a handful of words and brisk, cinematic scenes brings to mind rising Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter Greg Mendez, whose Beauty Land has been hailed as one of the year’s standout releases so far. I’d welcome a collaboration, or even a tour, though I suspect that would be emotionally demanding for both of us.
What elevates Every Time We Turn A Corner is its pared-down lyrical and sonic approach. Bare bones, bare feelings, inviting listeners to infer meaning and make sense of what’s unfolding. He trusts that the gentle acoustic guitar strums alone can carry the emotional weight of the lyrics, and they do—though a few mournful lap steel notes here and there certainly help, as on the almost spiritual “Golden Days,” a track that elevates a passing moment into a sacred monument. “May all your days be golden long after I am gone,” he croons with a tenderness that is both affectionate and crushing, to the point where it feels almost life-endingly potent.
Every Time We Turn A Corner is slated for release on 7/3 through Royal Mountain.
Other notable releases for the week include:
• Madonna’s Confessions II
• Mary In The Junkyard’s Role Model Hermit
• Ken Carson’s xperiment
• Margo Price’s Days Of Unrest
• Smirk’s Speculative Fiction
• Play Time’s Magic Object
• Sienna Spiro’s Visitor
• Low Cut Connie’s Livin In The USA
• Kevin Copeland’s Only Love Songs
• Topdown Dialectic’s False LP A
• Anton Pearson’s Driving Through Belgium
• Nirosta Steel’s My Skyscraper
• DOMINUM’s Night Is Calling
• Blake Whiten’s Something To Say
• Deep Purple’s Splat!
• Batu & Donato Dozzy’s Exhale
• Aaron Lum’s Tomorrow Is The First Day Of Your Life
• The Heavenly Bodes’ Green Hills
• Akusmi’s Terra Incognita
• Skyjack’s Let The Sky Open Under Your Feet
• Josh Ottum’s Light Depression
• Mortem’s Mørketid
• Robyn Hitchcock’s Live At Acheron
• Cecil Taylor Orchestra Humane’s At Iridium 2004 Live Album
• Function’s Aeternum (Existenz) Mini Album
• V8’s V8 Mini Album
• Joseph Kamaru’s Further Combinations EP
• Daniela Lalita’s TAC TAC EP
• Zorn’s Return To Castle Death EP
• Mirrorball’s Mirrorball EP
