Having taken us on late night Vancouver bus rides on “Midnight on South Granville”, “Don't Remind Me” odes protesting last night's memories, remixes of Renny Wilson's “Lady Pain” and more; Jay Arner gives an early listen to his self-titled ahead of it's June 25 release from Mint Records. From his vast work in the Pacific Northwest 's Hive Creative Labs studios, this album features Arner placing the mirror in front of himself for a sound reflection of both the personal and unexpected. Jay shared with us the following quip of commentary on both the collaborative approach of being in indie bands versus the self-recorded solo narratives delivered with the power of some 10 different groups in the following 10 songs time:
“Collaborative bands can blend ideas and take them to unexpected places whereas solo projects offer a pure vision of one person. This is a solo project but the way songs come to me they're just as unexpected.”
With the keyboard streaming ahead like an overnight bus ride, “Midnight on South Granville” creates the audio equivalent of having missed your stop and seeking out a place of comfort within new environments and spaces. Jay's voice echoes the sitting duck lamentations like a true lover of the new romantic on “Bird Of Prey”, while “Broken Glass” depicts a facet of the dance-guitar-synth arc of Arner's creative side where the space echo on the vocals is employed to let lines like “waiting to be found” hang around for a while longer than the song's duration.
If you were expecting some “In Da Club” big beats, you will be mistaken as “Nightclubs” gives a person to person-heart to heart over synthesized sympathies. “Sacrifice” continues that sentimental styled appeal that lets the stringed instruments dictate the guidance of rhythmic pushes. But that only begins to describe things, as the entire song shifts at the minute and a half cue where the electronization of all instruments takes over in what becomes a cut ready for dance floor dialogues (not to mention being remix ready). “Surf Don't Sink” continues to float the new dance sound of Mint Records upstream as the self-titled full-length continues to chart down diverse waters.
The power electrics of “Don't Remind Me” shrugs off the night before with a dig at Vancouver's uptown poshos as Jay explained it us. “The line about West Van kids is there to make fun of a few of my friends that grew up there. West Vancouver is sort of a wealthy area. I will take their wine.” The hammock nap life of “Out to Lunch” dreams big as vocals shine in the key crest sustains while the guitars shred out the framework for the ideal afternoon sound. Even throughout the “Wildest One's quick paced rock tempos, Jay keeps his vocal deliveries cool in a sonic zen reflecting pool of his own creation. Further evidence is the echoing closing fade of “Emotional White”, where the album ends in a soaring whiteout like an overexposed closing scene of celluloid film.
Jay Arner's self-titled will be available June 25 from Mint Records.
