It is certainly fair to state that most of us will experience loss, especially of loved and dear ones, over the course of our lives. Saying goodbye might often seem trivial to those outside the experience, but to those close to a departed, nothing could be more important. In a final act of deeply humble respect, we bid farewell to a loved one.
Rachel Kane, in preparation for the upcoming release of her fourth studio album, “Holler at the Wind,” releases today her new single, “Never Said Goodbye.” In this deeply moving tribute to the passing of her father, Kane reflects on her relationship to his life and the turmoil of her own. And hints at the impact, perhaps the damage, it caused to both. Kane, who lives in Winnipeg, was unable to attend the death of her father, world-renowned and highly acclaimed mathematician, Jacob T. Schwartz in Manhattan in 2009.
“Sometimes finding the right words comes when it’s too late,” Kane says. “My hope with Never Said Goodbye is to share some of the things I wish I could have told my father before he passed. As you get older, you look back on life and think about how you could have done things differently or why certain words were left unsaid. This song is my way of making peace with those missed opportunities.”
Kane has not released a studio album since “Unravelling” in 2005. Over that twenty-year period, she struggled with addiction and mental health concerns. Songwriting formed a healing foundation that offered her a means to recovery and connection to her gifts as a skilled, courageous writer, undaunted by the pensive, often foreboding, tumultuous themes her material explores.
The slow swampy groove that opens “Never Said Goodbye” fits perfectly with Kane’s plaintive singing and lyrics. The recurrent, pulsing refrain, “Goodbye, goodbye, never said goodbye,” chanted throughout the tune, feels more like a prayer than a confession, filled with hope rather than sorrow. Clearly the song is a heartfelt acknowledgment of Kane’s personal battles, but it underscores her love and admiration for the man, and the father “who made pictures in my head, all the world in the sound of your voice.”
Produced by her son, Beatox (a.k.a. Adam Fainman), with accompaniment by Michael Jerome Browne on fiddle and banjo, and bassist David Woodhead, the song is entirely arranged to showcase Kane’s grief-stricken narrative, juxtaposed with an almost jaunty, unquestionably haunting background fiddle, perfectly pairing Kane’s musings that what is lost is often, somehow, miraculously reclaimed.
“Holler at the Wind” will be released March 14, 2025, on Moonlite Media. Its arrival marks the return of a powerful, insightful songwriter whose voice has been missing in action for far too long.
Photo Credit: Artist EPK
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
