T R O U B L E (Boompa)

The five previous indie-folk albums Mark Andrew Hamilton helmed under the name Woodpigeon all seemed to have that vaguely uncomfortable sense of things left unsaid, bringing to mind grey clouds even when the singer focused on their silver linings. Well, whatever it was that seemed to be holding Woodpigeon back before is gone on T R O U B L E.

The album was inspired by Hamilton escaping a bad relationship and disillusionment with the music industry, witnessing riots in Turkey, wandering the South of France, and heading out all the way across Canada and back to Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. There, he reluctantly hunkered down with the fragments of songs he kindled in Argentina, only playing them for a few of his closest friends until producer Sandro Perri convinced him to fire up a new album project. It’s a damn good thing he did.

With drummer Daniel Gaucher, bassist Colin Edward Cowan, and keyboardist Annalea Sordi-McClure in the studio, guest appearances from David Thomas Broughton and Mary Margaret O’Hara, and Perri adding traces of his eclectic folk aesthetic at the controls, T R O U B L E pairs Hamilton’s most honest lyrics and heartfelt delivery with his most experimental songwriting yet. It feels like we finally get the whole story, warts and all. By the time you get to “Whole Body Shakes”, your body will probably be doing that for several different reasons.