As Edmonton’s Post Script, singer Steph Blais and guitarist Paul Cournoyer have been making accomplished tunes together since 2013. Through the years, they’ve gained attention from tours and won the Alternative Recording of the Year at the 2016 Edmonton Music Awards. This new collection should garner the duo further acclaim on a national scale.
On Friday 8 February, they’ll release their new EP, “The Light I Can’t Block Out,” containing five dreamy, honey-sweet, country tinged, melancholy tunes.
Every aspect of these songs seems acutely aware of what’s on Canada’s radio charts and being nominated for Juno Awards. Both production and performances are polished to a shining luster. Post Script have found that CBC sweet-spot: not sad enough to be morose, with just a tinge of folksy-Canadiana.
These are catchy, indie-folk songs you can play for your grandmother. Never panic that you’ll hear a loose note, a loud crash, or anything startling to possibly offend to sensitive ears. Even the sadness expressed in Blais’ words is often coated/coded in a way to make them universal, rather than isolated to one distinct voice. Her delivery style is also similar in timbre and affectation which I’ve heard increasingly over recent years.
What’s great about music is the way people can have their own opinions. This is not an album I particularly love. I prefer sad songs sadder, recordings that are more organic where you can feel the room, stories told in lyrics to be an intimate insight into what the writer was experiencing at the time and, records which traverse a wide range of audio dynamics and instrumentation.
That being said however, there are thousands of people who I bet will feel genuine pleasure from hearing these tunes at summer festivals and on their drive home from work. This review isn’t dogmatic. I’m not telling you what to think, or what to like. These are just one man’s inexhaustible opinions. Check out a few songs and decide for yourself.
Check out: Lights, Now I’m Gone
A bit of a Renaissance man, Steve Murphy is a singer-songwriter, author, and journalist based out of London, Ontario. An avid vinyl collector and audiophile, his personal collection of albums is wide ranging and in the thousands, including four released from his band Westminster Park.
