“Wisdom comes slowly / Look for the signs / Valour is fading / One day at a time / One day at a time” sings Josh Finlayson on “Quiet Mind,” chanting repetitively, almost pleadingly, “looking for a quiet mind.” Aren’t we all? In this noisy, grumbling, tumultuous over-saturated info world, don’t we all just want some quiet – if only, at least, inside?
On their latest album, “Dreams & Second Chances,” released May 09, 2025 (in time for their spring tour), beloved Toronto roots-rockers Skydiggers gift us a kaleidoscope of songs that will set your toes on fire, set your spine a-tingle, and fill your heart with joy. If that isn’t a “quiet mind,” nothing else will do!
From the opening track, “Dreams and Second Chances,” to its closing, reverent reflection “All Good All the Time,” these tracks, often reminiscent of all those treasured songs of yesteryear – jangly guitars, high soaring harmonies, foot stomping swing – are more than contemporaneous in mood, lyric and melody. More importantly, the energy, the precise crisp arrangements, the immediately of the themes, catch your breath and take it away. You don’t have to be a fan to appreciate the incredible calibre of musicianship and songwriting prowess it takes to create such a collection.
Following 2023’s astounding release “Bide Your Time – Hide Your Light,” released separately like two sides of an album, “Dreams & Second Chances” feels like a band in full command, just now hitting their stride, even though the principal songwriting duo of Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson have been making music, records, and endlessly touring since the early nineties. In Canadian terms – that’s just getting started. Skydiggers are a fresh new band for today’s listeners.
As detailed in their latest press release, during some off days on last November’s tour, the band visited The Tragically Hip’s Bathouse Studio in the Kingston area. ‘Surrounded by trees on three sides and water on the fourth, this studio is a setting without distraction, a heritage home transformed into one of the unique recording rooms in the world.’ Skydiggers went to work, fast, instinctively, spontaneously, avoiding the pitfalls of over thinking, simply relying on the power of their collective musical mastery. Isn’t this how magic comes alive?
Conjured up in the swirling opening track, “Dreams and Second Chances,” Andy Maize lays down the mantra and tone for the fourteen tracks that follow. “I feel all the sadness in this world / That any boy or girl should have to live in fear / I want to do what’s right, so why don’t you? / How come I feel like such a fool? / I believe in dreams and second chances / I believe in holding on to hope / I believe in dreams and second chances / Do you? / Do you? / Do you?”
Surrounded by a strong supporting cast of musicians: Noel Webb (drums), Derrick Brady (bass), Jessy Bell Smith (vocals), Aaron Comeau (guitars), and Michael Johnston (keyboards), both Josh Finlayson (guitars/vocals) and Andy Maize (vocals – and likely additional harmonies) crafted the album from songs generated by several collaborative songwriting teams. Covering a vast array of styles – roots, rock, rhythm and blues, and country, with hidden tributes to their dear friends, Gord Downie, “Walk with the Stars,” and John Farnsworth, in the touchingly beautiful “All Good All the Time,” Skydiggers are songwriters capable of capturing almost any subtle emotional nuance.
Singer Jessy Bell Smith catches a ray of Appalachian moonlight in her wonderful “Mother’s Pocket” and broken-hearted country soul in “Broken Year.” Josh Finlayson’s tribute to his 100-year-old mother-in-law, “Start Again,” is the best birthday gift a boy could bring.
Skydiggers are sending out messages of hope, love and strength on this album, as dear friends pass and memories pile up, they keep carrying on as the clearly and succinctly claim in “We Just Carry On:” “All the things that you could be / Was you ever really free / From the need to find your truth / And the sting of memory / How were we to know / Time would let you go / Now the hurt is gone / We just carry on / We just carry on / With all the things that you could be.”
Photo Credit: Austin Gibson
Douglas McLean fell in love with music at a very early age and has worked as a musician and songwriter since his early teens. He has a deep love for the written word and has spent his life in pursuit of language as a means to convey what Van Morrison once called “the inarticulate speech of the heart”. He lives deep in the Almaguin Highlands with his wife and their dog. Douglas is active in local radio, recording, producing and writing, in and around Huntsville, Ontario.
His website is:
http://www.douglasmcleanmusic.com
