Left at the Holly Row • Wishful Protection
‘The only constant here…is that everything this band delivers is of the highest quality.
Super smart compositions abound on this unusual album. ‘
ALL RECORDINGS: Paydirt (2020) • Quiet Industry (2015) • Is This Tomorrow (2009) • Joyous Porous (2002) • Desert Cure (1998) • Chasing Grace (1996) • Puerto Angel (1994) • The Yearly Ears (dig.comp.’94-98) • Coasting Notes (2011 by Three Metre Day) • Atlas Travel (2003)
Is This Tomorrow was released in June 2009. A combo CD/DVD, the CD features instrumental tracks and lots of vocals – by Becca Stevens (Bjorkestra), Mary Margaret O’Hara, and Martina Sorbara (Dragonette). The DVD is mixed in 5.1 for
home theatre, and has another hour of music synced with photography.
Produced by Don Rooke
Mixed by Nik Tjelios
Reviews
I can think of only two reasons why master
guitarist Don Rooke from Toronto should be
less famous than his illustrious colleagues Ry
Cooder and Bill Frisell. Rooke moves through
unclassifiable musical landscapes where rock,
jazz, country, funk and “Hawaiian noir”
seamlessly merge. Furthermore, he prefers to
hide himself behind a fictional band that features
him as its only constant member. Well, almost.
Fellow Canadian singer Mary Margaret O’Hara
has released very few recordings since her
intriguing debut album, Miss America (1988),
but whenever the obscure slide virtuoso from
Toronto is putting together a new Henrys outing,
she’s invariably part of it. For the first time since
The Henrys’ debut, Puerto Angel, her vocal
contributions have words to them.
Rooke likes to describe his part-time project as
“a nearly instrumental group,” defying even the
most basic categories in the music business.
The chances of ever seeing The Henrys on TV
are therefore next to nil, and you probably won’t
find their albums in a record store either. The
Henrys’ music is emotionally complex, tinged by
subtle touches of melancholy. Sometimes it’s
outright sultry, with the mournful sound of
Rooke’s slide guitar usually up front.
All of this makes their music seem to yearn for
moving images. Curiously enough, no filmmaker
has yet commissioned them to create a
soundtrack. Maybe that’s what inspired Rooke to
add images to the music himself. Rooke is not
only a highly gifted musician, but a fine
photographer. Every Henrys CD so far has
featured a photograph from his own collection
on the cover. What makes Is This Tomorrow
unique is the second disc in the package: a
DVD slideshow of Rooke’s images with the
Henrys music as the soundtrack. Once you start
watching, it’s really hard to stop. The music and
the images enhance each other, without either
one dominating. In terms of value for money Is
This Tomorrow is hard to beat. In total, the
package contains no less than 35 new
compositions, performed by 19 Henrys in
various combinations.
—-
After spinning this CD a dozen times or
so…we’re still not quite sure how to adequately
describe it. Canada’s The Henrys is a group of
musicians who describe themselves as
“nearly-instrumental”…but that doesn’t even
begin to sum up the wide range of sounds on
this album. This is definitely one of those cases
where the musicians are driven first and
foremost by a desire to create (rather than the
desire for money and/or fame). The fifteen
tracks on this CD go all over the place…but
instead of being difficult noisy artsy dribble,
these tracks are clean and soothing…and have a
very classic sort of sound. A few of the cuts
feature vocals while others are instrumentals.
The only constant here…is that everything this
band delivers is of the highest quality. Super
smart compositions abound on this unusual
album. We didn’t take the time (yet) to spin the
DVD…but if its anything like the audio disc
there’s probably a lot to digest there as well.
Killer cuts include “Give Him An Innocent,”
“Swan Song,” “Nite Skule,” and “Wishful
Protection.” At a time when everything gets
easily slopped into pigeonholes, this one stands
out like a sore thumb. TOP PICK.
*****
babysue.com
______
No one can accuse Toronto’s The Henrys of
rushing out albums; this may be their first in
seven years, but Don Rooke and his cohorts
have produced another fine slice of Canadian
audio mystery. Rooke’s trademark slide guitars
take centre stage as always, and this time the
emphasis is on his range of playing styles – at
one moment he’s reminding one of pedal steel
players, the next Hawaiian, and just round the
corner are bluesy phrasing and virtuouso riffs.
But The Henrys is not just about one player, as
long-time associates John Sheard and Hugh
Marsh lead a crew of musicians, all of whom
play a part in creating the lush, spacy
atmospheres that characterize the band. Nite
Skule sounds like jazz-meets-garage-band,
topped with rich organ, while That Myoclonic
Jerk is pure acoustic funk, and harmoniums and
light percussion wheeze in and out of the tracks,
which range from the free-form (Kingdom of
Piedmont and the 57-second Wading in the
Dark) to the more structured, such as the slow,
hypnotic The Cost of Living.
On previous albums, any vocals have been
wordless, using the voice as another instrument;
here there are recognisable songs for the first
time. Mary Margaret O’Hara lends her talents
again on a trio of songs, Cast A Net, Left at the
Holly Row and the album’s lovely, valedictory
closer, Wishful Protection. The wordless
vocals are this time taken by Becca Stevens,
whose Train to Funeral is a perfect blend of
noise and mood; and Martina Sorbara
contributes a slow countrified waltz, Chair By
The Window, full of regret, which is a close as
The Henrys get to playing things absolutely
straight – even here, instruments come and go
quickly and the silences are as full as the
ensembles passages. So it’s situation normal,
only better: Rooke and Co. are still creating
wonderful textures and passages, out there on
their own. There’s even a DVD with an hour-long
slide show attached – they say it’s a “slide show
to do the ironing by”, but that’s modest and
wrong – any attempts to do so will burn your
shirts, as the collaboration of musical fragments
and images is fascinating and insidious.
Ian Kearey, fRoots Mag, Dec/09, UK
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Well, it must be said: you never know what to
expect from The Henrys. Is This Tomorrow
comes as another pleasant auditory surprise,
seven years after their last CD. The work of
Toronto songwriter and multi-instrumentalist don
Rooke, the previous four Henrys discs were
primarily instrumental with minimal but sublime
singing. The biggest change this time out is the
vocal presence on 12 of the 15 songs by Mary
Margaret O’Hara, Martina Sorbara and Becca
Stevens.
Rooke contributes sultry and sweet guitars, and
has again assembled a stalwart cast of helpers
such as Hugh Marsh, John Sheard, Kirk Elliott,
Victor Bateman and John Dymond to flesh out
his compositions. All do so with subtle artistry
and dream-like restraint.
A DVD is included that features another hour of
music synced with gorgeous photographs. It is
tranquility personified and very easy on both the
eye and the ear.
Is This Tomorrow is a lovely, lovely piece of
work from a Canadian master.
Les Siemieniuk, Penguin Eggs
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The brainchild of Toronto songwriter,
multi-instrumentalist and producer Don Rooke,
the Henrys have won fans around the globe
(including Elvis Costello) with their warmly
atmospheric, eclectic sounds. Rooke clearly
believes in quality over quantity, given that it’s
been seven years since their previous CD, the
much-praised Joyous Porous. The biggest
change this time out is the increased vocal
presence. The previous four Henrys discs were
primarily instrumental, though the sublime
vocalizing of Mary Margaret O’Hara was present
in cameos. She returns here, alongside Martina
Sorbara and Becca Stevens (Bjorkestra). As
usual, Rooke contributes sweet kona (Hawaiian
slide guitar) and other guitar sounds, and has
again assembled such A-list Toronto players as
Hugh Marsh, John Sheard, Victor Bateman and
John Dymond to flesh out his compositions. All
do so with subtlety and restraint, another Henrys
trademark. A bonus DVD features another hour
of original music synced with still photography,
termed a “domestic installation piece” by
Rooke. It is tranquil and pleasing to both the eye
and the ear. A lovely work. (Independent)
Exclaim, Kerry Doole
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Don Rooke directs what often seems random,
leading the way on kona, dobro and various
guitars, while the rest choose their openings
discretely. Silence is valued, enhancing what
follows. It’s hopping down there at the
intersection of vision, impulse and serenity.
The Coast, Doug Taylor
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and for you Dutch readers
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and Dutch listeners...
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Finally, fans of Google translation (as we are),
who are right into ‘one stroke,’ but certainly not endless
gepriegel:
A while ago I discovered thanks to a tip The
Henrys, with a CD from 1996. Their latest album
is just so special, and actually even more
special one stroke. Also on This Is Tomorrow is
the changing Canadian company around Thurs
Rooke music that sounds like pop, but
otherwise has all the characteristics of futuristic
jazz, avant-garde or experimental film. The
remarkable thing about the music of Rooke and
his friends is that the music still remains
accessible sound, and experiments that never
lead to endless gepriegel or display of virtuoso
pretensions. Contrary. Here you hear that a lot of
humor and fun intelligent music made you
extremely happy to be a listener. And not just
happy because the music of The Henrys,
especially if you listen more often, also
surprisingly beautiful compositions. By directly
into the ear-catching arrangements that you
would almost forget, but we really have here a
rarity to do – open a masterpiece.
There is more, this time that Rooke two discs
provide. The first is a CD with songs sung
relatively large, which include again the beautiful
singer Mary Margaret O’Hara is heard, the
second is a DVD slide show. When I read
something I always keep my breath, but in this
case was the very pleasant surprise, because
the DVD contains not only a completely different
program of music, but also the pictures are
magnificent, and after five minutes I was already
fascinated to look and listen (as I had to put the
DVD with the newspaper on my lap, ready to
listen only). I leave here two excerpts from the
CD to hear, one with O’Hara and one from a
piece instrumental composition, but the two
hours Henrys The music here is really too varied
to provide a really good picture. So buy!
– Moors Magazine