The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
16
new
SPILL NEWS: SKINNY PUPPY TAPS LEAD INTO GOLD AS DIRECT SUPPORT FOR US/CANADA TOUR | NEW SINGLE “THE ETERNAL PRESENT” OUT NOW
SPILL FEATURE: IT’S NEVER TOO LATE – A CONVERSATION WITH STIX ZADINIA OF STEEL PANTHER
SPILL NEWS: BITCHFEST! 2023 – HIGHLIGHTING FEMALE, NON-BINARY, TRANS AND TWO-SPIRIT VOICES IN THE MUSIC SCENE ACROSS THE GTA
SPILL NEWS: JINJER TO SUPPORT HEADLINERS DISTURBED + SPECIAL GUESTS BREAKING BENJAMIN ON “TAKE BACK YOUR LIFE TOUR”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: HAYDEN RELEASES NEW SINGLE & VIDEO “MISS FORT ERIE” | WESTERN CANADIAN SOLO TOUR DATES
SPILL NEW MUSIC: THE DAMNED ANNOUNCE BRAND NEW STUDIO ALBUM ‘DARKADELIC’ OUT ON APRIL 28 ON earMUSIC | REVEAL NEW SINGLE + TOUR DATES
SPILL NEWS: THE SISTERS OF MERCY ANNOUNCE FIRST U.S. TOUR IN OVER A DECADE
SPILL NEWS: THE NORTHERN PIKES ACOUSTICALLY REIMAGINE FAN FAVOURITES FROM ‘SNOW IN JUNE’ ON TENTH STUDIO ALBUM ‘TIME TO TIME’
SPILL NEW MUSIC: SUBHUMANS UNVEIL HUGE BOX SET | ALL RECORDS REMIXED AND REMASTERED FROM ORIGINAL TAPES
SPILL NEW MUSIC: ORBITAL RELEASE NEW SINGLE “ARE YOU ALIVE?” FEATURING PENELOPE ISLES
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MMEADOWS – LIGHT MOVES AROUND YOU
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: WILL EPSTEIN – WENDY
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: COLONY HOUSE – THE CANNONBALLERS
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROBERT FORSTER – THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FANTASTIC NEGRITO – GRANDFATHER COURAGE
SPILL NEW MUSIC: BLUTENGEL RELEASED THIRD NEW SINGLE & VIDEO “WE BELONG TO THE NIGHT” | TOUR DATES
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • Track Of The Day
  • Track Of The Month
  • Books + Movies
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • Track Of The Day
    • Track Of The Month
    • Books + Movies
    • About
Album Reviews
189
previous article
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: THE SWEET KILL - "CLOSER"
next article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CARBONSTONE - DARK MATTER

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE WILDERNESS OF MANITOBA – FAREWELL TO CATHEDRAL

The Wilderness Of Manitoba

The Wilderness Of Manitoba
Farewell To Cathedral
Popguru Sound & Vision

Recorded in just two days at Revolution Recording in Toronto, Juno award-winning band The Wilderness of Manitoba has returned with its sixth album, Farewell To Cathedral. Characterized by a solemn, yet expansive folk-rock sound and Will Whitwham’s tender, earnest lyrics, this is a solid collection of tragically optimistic songs about moving on, moving outward, and finding one’s way forward.

Opening track “Oblivion” starts at a full canter, the distinctive falsetto of Whitwham’s voice like reins, controlling to what heights the song will soar. “The Well Has Run Dry” follows, but slows the pace, foreshadowing a pattern that will persist throughout the album of galloping ahead in one song before sinking down again in the next. It starts with some sensual guitaring to start before building slowly into something akin to an Irish folk ballad about the end of a relationship, the backup vocals of Victoria Carr harmonizing poignantly.

“Sometimes” is one of the stronger tracks, another beautiful song with gentle washes of crystalline guitar, Carr’s’ backing vocals adding a sublime folk charm to each song she appears in. Early single “The Alchemist” is more urgent than the first three tracks, the drums pounding along steadily, ceremonial almost, Whitwham’s falsetto surrounded by more varied streaks and flares of instrumentation that coalesce and push the limits of what the song can hold.

“Send Me To The Fire” reverses course again, a quiet, spare song, spectral and melancholic, with nice little twirls of guitar around the edges before the surprise of “The Ghost of Abilene,” which starts at a full trot and tells the familiar tale of a man lost in the desert, looking for his lover. More narrative than the other tracks here, it’s a classic folk-country scenario, and arrives here with all the sultry twang and bend and searing guitar that characterizes “desert western” songs, but Whitwham’s vocals color the atmosphere in a unique, chillier hue.

In the end, it’s clear the band has some nice range within itself, sliding up and down rhythmically, skipping easily from one kind of folk rock to another, from earthy pastoral country to more spectral tones, and they prove capable of keeping things interesting for an entire album.



Artist Links

website_flat_2016 facebook_flat_2016 twitter_flat_2016 instagram_flat_2016

close

STAY UP-TO-DATE
WITH OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!

* Mandatory Field

Check your inbox or spam folder now (just in case!) to confirm your subscription.

Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE WILDERNESS OF MANITOBA – FAREWELL TO CATHEDRAL

Author

Dan Kennard

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
—
8.0
Total Spill Rating
—
Total Fan Rating
You have rated this
Album Reviews
album reviewalbum reviewsfarewell to cathedralpopguru sound & visionthe alchemistthe wilderness of manitoba
album review, album reviews, farewell to cathedral, popguru sound & vision, the alchemist, the wilderness of manitoba
About the Author
Dan Kennard
Dan Kennard is an English teacher and fiction writer living outside Kansas City, Kansas where he lives with his wife and children. More about his work can be found at amazon.com/author/dankennard. You can also follow him on Twitter and Instagram @kennardistry or contact him at [email protected]
RELATED ARTICLES
album reviewalbum reviewsthe alchemist
 
8.0
Mmeadows

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MMEADOWS – LIGHT MOVES AROUND YOU

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on February 3, 2023
Mmeadows Light Moves Around You Independent On paper, the combination of Kristin Slipp and Cole Kamen-Green, aka Mmeadows, can sound like a strange combination. After all, Slipp is a member of avant-garde pop band Dirty Projectors, and Green has [...]
 
8.0
Will Epstein

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: WILL EPSTEIN – WENDY

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on February 3, 2023
Will Epstein Wendy Fat Possum Records A casual listen to Wendy, the new album by Woodstock, NY’s Will Epstein, might make one fall into the trap of labeling this album and Epstein with the standard tag of singer songwriter. Yet, as the album [...]
 
7.0
Colony House
8.3

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: COLONY HOUSE – THE CANNONBALLERS

by Dan Kennard on February 3, 2023
Colony House The Cannonballers Roon Records Colony House, the multi-talented alt-rockers from Franklin, Tennessee, have released a new album The Cannonballers, a follow up to their last studio album Leave What’s Lost Behind (2020). The result is [...]
 
9.0
Robert Forster
9.4

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROBERT FORSTER – THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME

by Ljubinko Zivkovic on February 3, 2023
Robert Forster The Candle And The Flame Tapete Records The Go-Betweens, in both the band’s incarnations, were probably one of the best rock bands ever. That greatness was based on the songwriting and friendship dynamic between Robert [...]
 
9.0
Fantastic Negrito

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FANTASTIC NEGRITO – GRANDFATHER COURAGE

by Gerrod Harris on February 3, 2023
FANTASTIC NEGRITO GRANDFATHER COURAGE STOREFRONT RECORDS Fantastic Negrito made waves with his creative odyssey of a 2022 album, White Jesus Black Problems, an album which tackled the story of his mixed ancestry in the era of American slavery, [...]

Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MMEADOWS – LIGHT MOVES AROUND YOU
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: WILL EPSTEIN – WENDY
8.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: COLONY HOUSE – THE CANNONBALLERS
7.0
8.3
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ROBERT FORSTER – THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME
9.0
9.4
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FANTASTIC NEGRITO – GRANDFATHER COURAGE
9.0

STAY UP-TO-DATE
WITH OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER!

* Mandatory Field

Check your inbox or spam folder now (just in case!) to confirm your subscription.

Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Premieres
  • Track Of The Month
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2023 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: QUADECA – I DIDN’T MEAN TO HAUNT YOU
2346
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE HUMAN LEAGUE – THE VIRGIN YEARS
1849
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ELVIS PRESLEY – ELVIS ON TOUR
916
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: SHRIEKBACK – BOWLAHOOLA
794
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: BOB DYLAN – FRAGMENTS – TIME OUT OF MIND SESSIONS (1996-1997) THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 17
619
 
SPILL NEWS: RICKIE LEE JONES NEVER DID FOLLOW THE RULES | ‘PIECES OF TREASURE’ OUT APRIL 28 (BMG MODERN)
539
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: CHEAP TRICK – LIVE AT THE WHISKY 1977
508
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DAVID CROSBY & THE LIGHTHOUSE BAND – LIVE AT THE CAPITAL THEATRE
379
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: NAZZ – LOST MASTERS & DEMOS
348
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOAN ARMATRADING – LIVE AT ASYLUM CHAPEL
329
 
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: GRAMERCY ARMS – “YESTERDAY’S GIRL” FT. LLOYD COLE
328
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: LITTLE RIVER BAND – ULTIMATE HITS/MASTERPIECES
326
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: RINGO STARR AND HIS ALL-STARR BAND – LIVE AT THE GREEK THEATRE 2019
288
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES