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Timber Timbre

Led by Taylor Kirk, Timber Timbre weds haunting, folk and blues-inspired songwriting with sounds that range from artfully simple to cinematically lush. The singer/songwriter/producer's initial home-recorded releases hinted at the rich vocals and striking imagery that blossomed on 2009's Timber Timbre, the first of several albums nominated for the Polaris Prize in Kirk's native Canada. The project's sound shifted to complement the mood of each album perfectly, imbuing the murder ballads of 2011's Juno-nominated Creep On Creepin' On with '50s melodrama, adding touches of classic R&B to the heartache and longing of 2014's Hot Dreams, and heightening the social commentary of 2017's Sincerely, Future Pollution with dystopian '80s flashbacks. When Kirk and company returned with 2023's Lovage, Timber Timbre sounded as darkly compelling as ever. Timber Timbre began when Kirk, who was working as a maintenance worker in rural Ontario, started recording songs inspired by the Bible and spiritual music with an acoustic guitar and four-track. Naming the project for the timber-framed cabin where he lived at the time, Kirk self-released Timber Timbre's debut album Cedar Shakes in 2006. Following a move to Toronto, Kirk recorded his second album Medicinals in his apartment; Shuffling Feet Records released it in 2007. By the time Timber Timbre was readying its third album, the project had expanded its musical horizons as well as its lineup. First appearing in January 2009 on Out of This Spark, Timber Timbre featured strings, banjo, and a small choir of vocalists along with Kirk's moody baritone and evocative songwriting. Earning wider acclaim than any of the project's previous releases, the album appeared on that year's Polaris Prize longlist and was reissued by Arts & Crafts in mid-2009. It also became Timber Timbre's first charting release, reaching number 69 in France. After touring in 2010 with artists such as Jónsi and the Low Anthem, Timber Timbre returned with their fourth album, April 2011's Creep on Creepin' On. Recorded in locations including a converted church, the album complemented Kirk's brooding songs with lush and occasionally kitschy production and arrangements. A shortlisted nominee for the 2011 Polaris Prize, Creep on Creepin' On peaked at number 20 on the Canadian Albums Chart. Timber Timbre supported the album by touring with Laura Marling and Feist. In 2013, Kirk and company started work on Timber Timbre's next album. Inspired by Kirk's stay in Los Angeles and Laurel Canyon, March 2014's Hot Dreams was co-produced by Kirk and collaborator Simon Trottier at the Banff Centre in Banff, Alberta and Montreal's Hotel2Tango studio. Featuring vintage soul and country influences as well as more electronics and saxophone courtesy of Colin Stetson, the album was another Polaris Prize shortlist nominee and reached number 20 in Canada. Two years later, Timber Timbre self-released the largely acoustic mini-album I Am Coming to Paris as a double-sided cassette. The project decamped to Paris to record April 2017's Sincerely, Future Pollution, which combined '80s-inspired synths and saxophone with commentary on the state of the world in the late 2010s and reached 94 on the Canadian Albums Chart. In 2019, Timber Timbre released the Dissociation Tapes EP on cassette; a digital release followed two years later. Early in 2023, Full Time Hobby reissued Cedar Shakes and Medicinals. That October, Kirk -- who spent much of the time following Sincerely, Future Pollution as a producer for other artists -- resurfaced with Lovage. Working with percussionist/drummer Adam Bradley Schreiber and producer/keyboardist/vocalist Michael Dubue at Dubue's Quebec studio, Kirk drew from the sounds of Leonard Cohen, Brian Wilson, Alice Coltrane, and Paolo Conte for Timber Timbre's first album in six years.
© Heather Phares /TiVo

Discography

14 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller

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