SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE SILVER HEARTS – GOLDEN FAVOURITES

The Silver Hearts
Golden Favourites
Mudtown Records

The Silver Hearts has ended a decade-long lull with its newest album Golden Favourites. Featuring 11 previously unrecorded songs from the ensemble’s 16-year history — including many fan favourites from live performances — the album is sure to quench any die-hard’s anticipation.

The Peterborough, Ontario group has gone through many incarnations over the years. From a duo, to a quintet, to a convoy comprised of over a dozen players and singers. The range of talents reflects the array of sounds it brings to the table. Golden Favourites is a collection of Ragtime, Blues, Alt-Folk, and Roots that runs the emotional gamut, from lighthearted jaunts to haunting and brooding explorations.

The album breathes new life into old classics. Its rendition of “Hot Time” is a lively and upbeat take on the Ragtime tune, while “In The Pines” offers a dark and eerie spin on the well-covered classic. Near the end of the album, “St. James Infirmary Blues,” with its powerful horns and deep penetrating vocals, transplants the listener. In this song, and throughout the record, you almost feel like you’re uprooted to some dimly lit Blues bar in a lost and distant time, regardless of where you are. Other times, you are so deep in American Folk that you can almost smell the sawdust on the floor. This feeling of transition crops up throughout Golden Favourites as the essence and echoes of these genres colours your vision with rose-tinted glasses and an aching nostalgia for a time you’ve never even been around for.

The album subverts the notion that The Silver Hearts is solely a live band, demonstrating its ability to add personality and flair to every song it inhabits, in the studio or otherwise.

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