Someday Is Today

Album review

Without abandoning their drugged-out dream pop sound, Winnipeg's Living Hour made some adjustments when recording their third album, Someday Is Today, the follow-up to their Kanine Records debut, Softer Faces (2019). First, their drummer left, so bassist Brett Ticzon and guests including Jason Tait (Broken Social Scene, the Weakerthans) helped fill in on what ended up being varied drum parts. At the same time, other members are credited on multiple instruments this go around -- that includes lead vocals, with the group sharing the spotlight between core members Gilad Carroll, Adam Soloway, and Softer Faces lead Sam Sarty (although they all sang backup on prior releases). The now-foursome also worked with a new batch of producers, among them Jay Som's Melina Duterte, who is featured on standout track "Feelings Meeting." A fuzzy, melancholy reverie, its lush, textured harmonics represent the high-density end of an album that's, on average, lighter and a little more acoustic leaning than its predecessor. The languid, sunshine pop-tinged "Exploding Rain," for instance, opens with gentle strummed and broken chords, harmonized vocals, and a drum pattern consisting of simple bass drum, hi-hat, and cross sticking, until things pick up for its warm chorus. The opening song, "Hold Me in Your Mind," forecasts such subtle folk-rock leanings with its dreamy mix of organ, spacy keys, and layered harmony vocal tracks, like the Mamas & the Papas on sedatives. It all stays grounded in earnest bittersweetness and steady tempos, however, even on a hazier, more hypnotic track like "Curve." By switching singers, drumming complexity, and stylistic approaches (check out "December Forever" for gear-shifting '90s sadcore or "Miss Miss Miss" for unexpected claves), Someday Is Today is unfocused in more ways than one, but its mood locks into the late-summer twilight.

© Marcy Donelson /TiVo