DAVID JAMES ALLEN / By The Summertime
Listening to David James Allen, it often feels as if he’s channeling every cool record you’ve ever owned. He's been releasing his own music for more than a decade, but over the past five years—after moving eastward from Toronto to the wilds of Prince Edward County—he has been startlingly prolific. Beginning with 2017’s When The Demons Come and carrying on through 2020’s Radiations and the following year’s The Architect, Allen has been steadily amassing a remarkable body of work that stands alongside those of any of his Canadian contemporaries.
To record By The Summertime, Allen reconnected with his co-producer for The Architect, William D. Crann, with sessions conducted online until it was safe to book in-person time at Catherine North Studios in Hamilton, Ontario. In keeping with his desire to try something new, Allen decided to record his own parts first and then add different combinations of instruments through overdubbing. He called upon many old friends and collaborators to achieve this, and the results range from the easy-flowing opening track “Billowed,” to the swampy “The Devil And Me” and the blue-eyed soul of “Blush And Hide.”
Allen cites Canadian poets Al Purdy and Nelson Ball for inspiring many of his new lyrics, but he could surely write his own book based on the backstories to each song on By The Summertime. When pressed, he singles out “Holly”—“a reflection on drugs, dingy bars, old relationships and backwards priorities. I think this is one of my favourite country/folk songs I’ve written”—and first single “Another Day Older,” a further exploration of the perils of hard living, highlighted by Jillian Sauerteig’s shimmering string arrangement.
EPK :: LINKTREE
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