David R. Elliott – Rearrange

Artist: David R. Elliott
Album: Rearrange

Written by: Chiara DiAngelo

Saint John, New Brunswick’s country troubadour David R. Elliott recently released his latest album, Rearrange. An old soul quite possibly born in the wrong era, Elliott’s twang channels the spirit of old-time Southern greats. Less experimental than last year’s Sam Hill, this one allows Elliott to hone his chops towards a more rustic sense of authentic traditional country.

While much of the album is based around songs about girls, you are not going to find any hokey honky tonk love songs here. Each of the tracks seemingly describe different stages of relationships, from courtship to heartbreak. With heavy substance to his writing – both lyrically and instrumentally – there is a certain lore to Elliott’s storytelling that resurges your infatuation with the country genre. The distorted guitar riffs on opener “Flower Dress” embody the raw electric angst held within the lyrics, feeding right into the immediate passion of third song “Foolish Lips.” The most far-out track on the album, the almost eerie psychedelic darkness to the guitar pushes “Shadow” into the next dimension.

A simple acoustic song, “One Strong Drink Deserves Another” ends with a short stint of burgeoning gang vocals; you can actually picture the group of friends joyously singing the chorus, sitting around together at the bar. Changing the tempo from song to song, the album ends with a subdued despondent and honest fragility expressed on the last two songs about love. While this choice brings the final mood down, it acts as proof that Elliott can be effectively heartfelt and moving as well.

The album was recorded at Echo Chamber in Halifax with Charles Austen, and was produced by Mike Trask. For fans of Halifax synth rockers Writers’ Strike, the album features drummer Tynan Dunfield as part of Elliott’s backing band. Rearrange can be picked up through Bandcamp. Elliott has a line of shows on the East Coast throughout March. As for the rest of us, we’re going to have to wait until later in the summer to see him live.