BLUE RAIN

After some 30 years of doing this I promise one day I will get organised, but it hasn't happened yet and here I am again faced with an album about which I have no idea how I have it. I am even more surprised to discover that it was originally released in 2014 and then reissued in 2017 with an additional track, which is the version I have. This was Cary's second album, and as far as I can ascertain there hasn't been anything since, which is a real shame as this is a lo-fi discovery I have really enjoyed. It is a fully solo effort, with Cary providing electric and acoustic guitars, 12-string and classical guitars, fretless bass, synthesizers, vocals, mellotron and drums, but not all of these appear on all tracks.

Here is someone who has obviously been heavily influenced by the more melodic side of Roy Harper, and consequently he also makes me think of Martin Springett, and as they are both Canadian, I wonder if they have bumped into each other. That also then led me into thoughts of Rick Miller, but this is far more lo-fi than that. While Heuchert is a very good guitarist he is a basic drummer at best, but at least he has used real drums instead of the bloody machines, but he would have been better off bringing in someone for session work. The vocals are somewhat quavery but combine with the music to produce something which has a wonderful, special sort of naivety. There are times when he seems to struggle a little on the keyboards, but I found that didn't matter too much as this feels quite magical. It is an album way out of time, something that shouldn't exist as we come to the second decade of the 21st century, but I am very glad indeed that it does.

There is a freshness and lightness within the music, loads of space, a feeling of sheer honesty and in these days of over-produced music which is way to clinical, there is something here which is quite special. Progressive, folky, singer- songwriter, with elements of both Floyd and The Beatles, this is an album which makes me smile each time I play it.

After a 2012 debut of mostly instrumental music with dreamy atmospheres, Vancouver based Cary Heuchert returned in 2014 with a more song oriented effort that is every bit as spacey. His pleasant and laid back vocals are mostly accompanied by acoustic guitar with occasional keys and drums, all or which he plays. Comparisons to NICK DRAKE and an unplugged PINK FLOYD are apt from a musical viewpoint but lyrically he seems a lot more centered and not in dire need of uppers. A more recent project with shared characteristics would be Chris Wade's DODSON AND FOGG which has been far more prolific. Nonetheless this is an artist with a distinctive enough calling card to warrant your attention if any of the above speak to you as it does me.

Heuchert seems most concerned with capturing the deceptive simplicity of an earlier time, that being the late 1960s and early 1970s when acoustic music with psych undertones struck a purple patch, rather than amassing credits for virtuosity. While not being monotonous, the tunes achieve a uniformity of mood only occasionally broken by a percussive flourish which serves to affirm their sparse usage elsewhere, used to particularly pointed effect on "Not Just Another Day". Other highlights are the introspective opener "Blue Rain", the oddly similar and haunting "Every Morning Comes" and "Lost in your Dream", or the CAT STEVENS like "Someday". The original album closer seems to trawl the early 1960s a la BEATLES and, while possessing a certain naive charm, is a bit of a throwaway whose position on the playlist is arguably poor or optimal depending on your own position on the matter. Perhaps Cary agreed with my perspective because a more recent re-release concludes with a 2 part bonus track that is by far the best and most progressive number on offer, generating hope that "Blue Rain" will precipitate future works of import.