Doug Paisley
Constant Companion

Doug Paisley's music is a dive into the prairies of American folk. The kind that is expansive, coming from afar, an expression of past pilgrim origins. The restless thirst driving the numerous interpreters of this musical genre in the face of their existential questions was quenched by the ability to tell the hidden America, the everyday one with its numerous shadows. Folk later took several paths, both in terms of sound, ranging from bluegrass to rock; and in content, starting as an expression of social discomfort, then evolving into disillusionment and intimate unease.

Paisley's country wipes the dust off the vinyl records of fathers and grandfathers, worthily following their trail. You can hear the tenets of Gram Parsons' cosmic America and the bittersweet ethereal moods of James Taylor. At the same time, the Canadian songwriter looks at today's greatest interpreters of these roots: Wilco and Bonnie "Prince" Billy. It was with the latter that he went on tour following various critical acclaims after his debut (2008) and seems to have mainly drawn inspiration from him for this “Constant Companion”.

The initial one-two punch of “No One But You” – “What I Saw” approaches the calmer and more optimistic compositions of Jeff Tweedy, matching its airy hammonds with the atmospheres of “Summerteeth”. While “Don't Make Me Wait”, where he duets with Feist, is nothing special, “End Of The Day” features an inscrutable folk, comparable to that of the earliest Herman Düne. With the poignant ode to melancholy in “Bluebird”, the songwriter reaches the peak of expressiveness, and while “Always Say Goodbye” is the most country piece, the subsequent “O’ Heart” ventures into the territory of seventies ballads, characterized by an over-the-top piano and sprinkled with a glam veil worthy of Bowie. The concluding “I Stand Alone” – “Come Here And Love Me” only reinforce Paisley's compositional talent, emphasizing his emotional variability: the first sunny and optimistic, the second of a contemplative vastness that seems limitless.

The Toronto songwriter confirms himself as one of the major interpreters of American folk tradition.