Crack of Dawn release new Music
Surfacing from the darkness of an extended hiatus with
one of the most superb offerings of the last calendar year, Crack of Dawn’s
Spotlight isn’t just captivating the critics, but it’s earning one of Canada’s
most legendary and critically underrated groups a whole new legion of modern,
youthful followers. The way they’re going about their comeback wasn’t devised
in some marketing boardroom somewhere or engineered with a big financial
interest at hand.
Crack of Dawn is doing what they’ve always done best, and
that’s deliver signature grooves that eliminate the pain and replace it with a
warm glowing comfort that is only possible through the majesty of earnest,
authentic soul music.
Songs that are able to make us feel and experience the
same love, the same pain, the same yearning that an artist is describing to us
transcend the physical boundaries of our earthly connections in favor of
something much more ethereal and divine. In the church of music, the minister
that Crack of Dawn collectively forms isn’t a strict one that wishes to stress
the ire of hell that awaits us should we step out of line, but one that
encourages us to engage with all of the spectacle of emotions that this life
and this world have to offer us in the relatively short time that we’re a part
of it. Tracks like “Ol’ Skool,” “Booby Ruby,” the title track and “Keep the
Faith” don’t make us question the firm ethos that this style of music was built
on, but instead reinforce the iconic allure that helped make soul the most relatable
genre in pop. If you can listen to that opening smackdown of rhythm that “Keep
the Faith” lays on us in its first thirty seconds, I’d seriously have to
question whether or not you’re human or some sort of Apple created cyborg who
can’t understand our concept of art and its relatability to the planet as a
whole.
Spotlight has a very anthological feel to it, and because
Crack of Dawn spent the time that they did selecting this particular group of
songs to present to us in one place, we’re able to jump head first into its
magnetizing, cinematic qualities without any hesitations or preconceived
notions about what we’re getting into. While everyone, in every medium of art,
wants the kind of passion and devotion that this group of guys has when they
come together in the studio, or anywhere else for that matter, it isn’t
something that you can teach in a schoolroom, or even on a stage. Some things
you’ve just got to be born with, and there isn’t a single doubt in my mind that
Crack of Dawn are blessed with many god given gifts that allow them transcend
the barriers between us and connect with us in such an awe-inspiring way. While
I’d love to hear them tackle some slightly more stripped down material, I’m not
going to complain about anything that this band does moving forward. Honestly,
I think we should all just be grateful to have them back, and Spotlight is the
perfect disc to celebrate their return.
Gustave Carlson
No comments:
Post a Comment