Perfection may be difficult to comprehend and even harder to attain. But if you really feel like taking a stroll down the path of impossibility, just try to get someone to talk about it – especially when they’re on the verge of faultless excellence.
A baseball pitcher working on a no-hitter, for instance. With each perfect inning, life gets a little bit lonelier for the unspoiled hurler as one teammate after another comes down with “laryngitis” for fear of cursing the effort.
And don’t expect the discussion to be any more successful with a musician that’s achieved songwriting bliss with a flawless melody. Whether it’s humility, superstition, self-criticism, or all of the above, there’s just no way that an inspired singer-songwriter will open their mouth and jinx a glorious melodic effort.
But that doesn’t mean that someone else can’t spout off.
Every music fan has prepared “The List” – a roll call of favorite songs; songs that inspire them, songs that move them, songs that make the hairs on the back of their neck do a wondrous dance.
Some songs make The List after only a couple of plays. Others make it after years of uncovering tuneful nuances. And then there are those songs that literally grab you by the ears and immediately stop you in your tracks.
Look no further than “Lost In The Light,” Bahamas’ brilliantly understated opening cut from Barchords, his sophomore record released last week on Brushfire Records. The sparse but powerful blues tune is a perfect taste of Bahamas’ unique gift for restraint while playing up the impact of a song.
A highly sought after musician who spent three years as a guitarist/pianist for Feist and others, Bahamas is actually a stage moniker for Afie Jurvanen (pronounced AY-fee). And while it may have been a purely unintentional concession to the phonetically challenged, early in his solo career as a singer-songwriter he opted for the easier-on-the-tongue name.
Barchords is the follow up to his acclaimed Canadian debut Pink Strat (2009), which received a Juno nomination (Canadian Grammy equivalent) and was nominated for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize (Canadian Mercury Prize equivalent).
Much like its predecessor, the 12 songs on Barchords defy simple categorization. Jurvanen’s vocal delivery and masterful playing create a distinctive sound that is both subtle and intense. His soulful folk features bare arrangements where the space is as powerful as the performance.
He does this while incorporating an array of styles, yet always maintaining his own. From the incredible opening track to the pop-infused “Caught Me Thinking” to the classic standard feel of “Time and Time Again”, the songs on the new album continue to reveal themselves far beyond the literal interpretation of the lyrics upon the initial listen.
Jurvanen chatted with Examiner.com recently about the exceptional record. Some of the best songs are those that just seem to come easily to an artist. Perhaps not surprisingly, Barchords’ opener “Lost In The Light” was a “natural” for Jurvanen.
“Well, it came from the same place that all of my songs are born from, which is me struggling with sort of an emotional hurdle. I just have this melody and this line – I really had that running around in my head for some time.”
“And it just sort of suggested a big choral arrangement. And the drums. It seemed very obvious that they should feel like a heartbeat. It was kind of a song that I didn’t really labor over that much, you know?”
“That one little guitar riff that starts the song off suggested everything that follows. And the lyrics seemed to come really quickly and easily once I had that riff. I don’t know. I mean, I wish there was more of a struggle. But often the best songs are the ones that you don’t have to fight for. They just sort of come and I'm really grateful that that was one of them.”
A successful debut can sometimes set the stage for a “sophomore jinx.” But after listening to Jurvanen’s latest, the talented musician managed to completely avoid the so-called curse. Jurvanen was never concerned with the expectations.
“I don’t really buy into that stuff. I mean, I'm proud of all the music that I've made – that I've put out there. But this record is stronger than the last one. And I think that just as a person and as a song writer I feel more confident.”
“I’ve been able to write better songs, and I think that’s all you can really hope for as an artist and musician. You just kind of hope you’re getting better. And as far as how it should be, I just really hope to get out there and get a chance to be able to play.”
Jurvanen’s music is wonderfully unassuming, which is fantastic for the serious listener. But unfortunately, that distinctive musical introspection can limit its air play.
“Well, of course that happens in almost every type of media, whether it’s literature or film or music. Of course there are things that have more media appeal. And there are things that are designed to be consumed that way.”
“But for me the music that’s interesting is the one that’s hanging around for a long time – that you can go back to. And that’s what I'm interested in contributing to. I guess I just feel like if you try and write a really good song, then you don’t need to pump them up too much with production.”
“All of my favorite song writers have strived to that ideal and I guess it’s just reflected in who I am. I'm just not attracted to those things. It doesn’t appeal to me in any way in life. I want friendships that are lasting and I want music that’s lasting.”
“There are some musicians and artists who have been able to do amazing things and take on personas and be characters. But I realized years ago that that’s just not really for me. I think that the more honest I can be through my music, that’s where my comfort zone is. I just try and spend as much time there as I can every day. And more often than not, that means it’s a good day if it gets there.”
On Barchords, Jurvanen combines remarkable storytelling with arrangements that are simple, gentle, and earnest to transport the listener into a world of bluesy, country tinged musings. Jurvanen doesn’t hesitate about his love for country music.
“Absolutely. I’m obsessed with country music. Willie Nelson is probably my favorite singer. Something about his voice just moves me every time. There’s just so much joy that he brings, he just fills the room. The audience kind of radiates it back to him.”
“I have a pickup truck and I have a cassette player (chuckling). I buy most of my music from Salvation Armies and thrift stores and stuff. The cassettes that are still in circulation are country music because nobody seems to want them anymore. That’s good news for me.”
Bahamas’ live show is remarkable. A fan at a festival show remarked that “in the middle of computers, confusion and massive production, it was a guy with just a guitar that brought the house down.” Jurvanen prefers a stripped down performance.
“Absolutely. I mean there are less things going on. The most extreme version of that would just be me playing solo – you’re so agile. And you can really move with the performance and move with the audience. The songs can move, the tempos can change – everything is just like whatever you want it to be.”
“The musicians I surround myself with, I trust their musical instincts. We don’t do a whole lot of talking about the way it should sound or the way it should be. There are some amazing things that happen with the computers and all the pedals and different equipment. But for me, that stuff just becomes more of a burden.”
“When I play live it’s just drums and guitar and voices. And I play with a couple of backup singers in the band. So just because of the instrumentation, it forces us to find different ways of interpreting songs. Playing that way for me it’s really exciting and sort of forces you to find new and interesting ways to do things.”
“There’s no shortage of bands that want to get up and there and recreate the album and make it moving and impressive. For me, I have very little desire to do that.”
It doesn’t take long to realize that Jurvanen is an “old soul,” almost as if he’s been born 50 years too late. He prefers to play cheap old Harmony and Silvertone guitars from the ‘50s and ‘60s. Interestingly, his love of all things old extends to a collection of antique kitchenware.
“I think in general, there’s just an older sensibility that appeals to me more. There’s something about the songwriting and production values of 30-40 years ago, that’s much more appealing than what’s happening now. I just tend to reach back a little bit further I think.”
“I like old pickup trucks, I like old pictures, I just kind of like older things. I feel like the modern world, from a design standpoint, was pretty much perfect 50 years ago. And since then, things have gotten progressively uglier – for the most part overdesigned and overcomplicated.”
It’s Afie Jurvanen’s uncomplicated perspective that makes his music so extraordinary. And if you haven’t heard Barchords yet, let’s just say that there’d better be room on “The List”…
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