Review: Timber Timbre - Hot Dreams
[Arts & Crafts; 2014]
Rating: 8.5/10
By Sammi Nelson, Contributor
Key Tracks: “Beat the Drum Slowly,” “Hot Dreams,” “Curtains?!”
The Canadian music project known as Timber Timbre has released its fifth album, Hot Dreams. Featuring the band’s characteristic mixture of folk and blues, Hot Dreams takes listeners on a Kerouac-esque cross-country drive into a sunset paradise.
Timber Timbre have been in the music scene for almost a decade, releasing music that induces an absolute fantasy on each of their recordings. Their first two record releases, Cedar Lakes and Medicinals, were independently released albums. The group then signed on to the Canadian label Arts & Crafts, which released the band's self-titled album soon after.
Hot Dreams follows their last record, Creep On Creepin’ On, which made it onto the Polaris Prize list just as the self-titled album had a few years prior. The band has toured with acts such as Jónsi, The Low Anthem and fellow Canadian artist Feist.
The band is known for its haunting music. Taylor Kirk produces a swooning emotion with the lull of his voice. Kirk also displays his multi-instrumental talent for the band by providing the guitar, baritone and bass guitars, keyboards and drums. Alongside Kirk is keyboardist-percussionist-violinist Mike Posen and guitarist-percussionist Simon Trottier.
Hot Dreams has been a highly anticipated album since the band started laying tracks down for it in 2013. Listeners will most assuredly be pleased to find their long wait has been delivered with an absolutely golden sound.
The album starts with “Beat the Drum Slowly,” a somber track that emulates its title’s meaning with more than just a simple drumbeat. Kirk’s bass vocals add to the anxious build, and just at the simmering climax at the end, the sound switches over to the title track, which has an altogether different feel.
“Hot Dreams” has a special allure to its sound. It’s romantic, poetic and contains a yearning message within its lyrics. The song gets even better when some sexy saxophones are added, creating an addicting mixture of blues, folk and jazz.
The title track is followed by “Curtains?!,” which is the next single. The bass guitars give the song an attractive nocturnal element. Honestly, the song would be perfect in a mobster movie.
The album closes with the track “The Three Sisters,” a song that sounds more menacing than any other song before it. The slow beat and the pulsing, low piano notes produce an almost sound so haunting that it will surely give listeners chills--if they didn’t already have them from the preceeding tracks, that is.
Timber Timbre’s Hot Dreams is a record that perpetuates the classic blues feel along with its obvious modern adaptations. The album is a mystifying, somber masterpiece that will attract new listeners and also please the old ones.
