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By Andrew Leyenhorst
BNL are back with a boldly adventurous new record ; both in the music , and in its creation
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Ooh , look at the stars Some of them are long gone , And yet they are -from “ Flip ”
There are a lot of poignant lyrics throughout Detour de Force , but this little passage from the bridge of lead single “ Flip ” sums up the spirit of this , the Barenaked Ladies ’ 13 th all-original LP , appropriately and succinctly . The notions of impermanence , fragility , and finding the wherewithal to see the bright spots in otherwise black skies weave their way through these 14 tracks with classic BNL charm and character . However , while it ’ s an introspective , thoughtful ,
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and surprisingly intimate effort , there ’ s also plenty of irreverent fun to be had as well .
A slight departure from the recording processes for their previous two records , Fake Nudes ( 2017 ) and Silverball ( 2015 ), the making of Detour de Force was a little bit more homegrown and unpredictable . After the songs were all written , the band would hole up in vocalist / guitarist Ed Robertson ’ s Ontario cottage with legendary producer Mark Howard and his host of studio equipment , and get to work right in the living room . “ We knew we wanted to make a different kind of record ,” Robertson says . “ Our plan initially was to do the entire record up here at my
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cottage , which is not a studio at all … Mark was moving all his gear into the living room of my cottage . And you know , guitar amps in the bedrooms , bass amp in the bathroom , drums in the main room . We built a very cool , makeshift room in a very isolated location .”
“ That was really great ,” adds bassist Jim Creeggan . “ I mean , too many car rides with Tyler up to Ed ’ s house ,” he laughs . “ We did it in a week , and just laughing our brains out having a good time together . It really smooshed us together up in a snowbank , and that really created some special memories . And whenever we wanted to go on a frozen lake , we could , just right outside the door .
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34 CANADIAN MUSICIAN |