Bones (Independent)

A singer-songwriter who’s put in more than his requisite 10,000 hours busking on the streets of Vancouver, and selling countless CDs there, Bodhi Jones puts out a pro record here. Jones’s Bones has a lot going for it, in terms of passionate, politically engaged lyrics, Winston Hauschild’s clear production, overall packaging, and the singer’s likable tenor instrument.

The big highlight is the memorable closing tune, “Marching”, with its haunting cello and industrial noises, plus Hannah Epperson’s quietly emotive harmonies. She plays violin in the string section on other tunes, too. And there’s reliably solid playing throughout from studio stalwarts like guitarist Scott Smith, keyboardist Chris Gestrin, and drummer Pat Steward. Somehow, the rest of the album doesn’t quite click.

Many of the tunes, such as “Alone on the Battlefield” and the anthemic “Drink Like the World’s Gonna End” (which has a cleverly Vancouverish video, available on YouTube), offer a Celtic tinge, in a Glen Hansard–meets–Spirit of the West kind of way. Unfortunately, the melodies and the musicians simply fall into all the expected places, failing to surprise when it really counts.

A couple of numbers, like the piano-based title song, show off Jones­—who performs a CD-release party Friday (September 6) at St. James Hall—in the more exposed state he’s used to, as a veteran solo performer. But these arrangements mostly underline the somewhat numbing harmonic simplicity of his compositions. His tunes need more grit, colour, and mystery—in their presentation, at least—if they are to match the thoughtfulness of his lyrics and the passion of his singing.