Toronto singer/songwriter/instrumentalist Charlotte Day Wilson’s self produced EP CDW is so laid-back, it’ll kick your rear.
Assisted by fellow multi-muso Tom Paxton-Beesley, Wilson’s album is a brief blast of ambient soul with a deceptively soft character. For a point of reference,I’ll wager the Irish singer Andrew Hozier-Byrne (aka Hozier). CDW sounds hypnotic but is tranquil and surprising.
The first track, On Your Own, has a languid Arthurian presence that Loreena McKennitt might invoke but underneath there’s unrest.
The next song is where Wilson gets down. Work is a chilling stunner of stark soul that patiently abides until the end. It’s an evocative cut and Wilson brings a mood that’s deep and wide with an open major/minor sound for any setting. It’s a song that could play at a wedding, funeral, dinner party, bar/bat mitzvah, etc. Work is the type of song that can transcend context because its power is casually inspirational.
The song has a counterpart in Find You, which has a held-in-check sultry sound that some over-the-top divas could learn from.
CDW is confident and bold without posturing and gets zen without being boring.It’s simply beautiful music.
Dean Gordon-Smith is a Vernon-based musician who reviews the latest music releases for The Morning Star every Friday.
