SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SAID THE WHALE – CASCADIA

Said The Whale
Cascadia
Arts & Crafts

For me a favourite thing is listening to bands that share a strong kinship with one another as well as to their music. Vancouver, B.C trio, Said the Whale have been playing with a rich heartfelt woodsy rock for 11 years now, and their sixth release, Cascadia, shows a band who has adapted to change and what it means to grow older and more world aware.

In their music you can feel the individual climate these folks have chosen to exist in; the mountains, the city, or on an island somewhere along the coast. The ensuing sound response is layered with goodness, urgency reaction to the state of our world and the people we carry along with us, love songs to places and folks who restore our hope, and a couple of appreciation songs in ode to a life well lived.

The opening two tracks, “Wake Up”, and “UnAmerican” are solid shakers that get this album running, and I like that the band are putting their personal and political step forward because we really do live in a messy world that needs help but it’s also a pretty awesome place. “Old Soul, Young Heart” is a lovely one and an ode to the lovely ones who impact us–our favourite musicians, our dads and moms, or our best friends.

Without a doubt, Cascadia is a radio-ready album. There are some great songs with a lot of power and a few awkward stumbles along the way, but the first listen got my ears ringing, and that to me is everything.

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