Fresh Tracks: Albums and EPs from Sean Davis Newton, Brett Hansen and Rigger Morris

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Sean Davis Newton: Bird Brain

Sean Davis Newton has worn many hats in Edmonton’s music scene: band member, producer, engineer, designer, critic. Now he’s stepping out into a solo career, with a recently released debut album under his name.

Bird Brain is a collection of eclectic songs, often ripe with sardonic observations. Much of it sounds like Randy Newman dueting with Pavement with orchestration by Jon Brion. True to its title, half of the songs are inspired by our feather friends, with Davis penning lyrics based on observations of local magpies, chickadees, etc. Snowbirds, for example, is a catchy song about life’s changes, with Newton singing “Snowbirds don’t have a choice, they know they’re bound to freeze/When days get dark and joyless and we shed our leaves.”

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Numerous songs on Bird Brain have a lo-fi bedroom pop feel, with punchy keyboards and delicate acoustic guitar, but many are accompanied by slick horns and strings. It gives the tracks a jaunty presentation, juxtaposing the often clever wordplay such as “I’m a Nazi apologist, bath bomb psychologist, a New Jersey Devil, I’m a comment section novelist.”

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Album highlight Glass Eye is a freak-folk track in the vein of early Flaming Lips. Largely nonsensical but extremely catchy, it teeters across a rolling guitar lick and organ and even contains a scratchy voicemail recording over the bridge. Its accompanying music video is a hoot too, which Davis shot on 35mm film in a handcranked toy camera.

Listen to Bird Brain via streaming services.

Brett Hansen: Confluence

If you’ve listened to practically any local release in the past 10 years there’s a good chance you’ve heard the fretwork of Brett Hansen. As an in-demand guitarist, he’s performed with PJ Perry, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, and Mallory Chipman among others and now he’s striking out on his own.

Hansen’s debut album Confluence showcases his skills over 12 original tracks which touch on jazz, folk, ambiance, and rock. The songs are instrumentals except for Heading North, which features the velvety vocals of Chipman who is also credited as co-producer of the album along with Paul Johnston.

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Hansen is joined on Confluence by a wealth of Alberta talent including Chris Pruden on keyboards, Murray Wood on bass, Joel Jeschke on drums, and Luis Tovar on percussion. The resulting music settles in somewhere between background sounds and lively instrumentation. Wordless vocals courtesy of Chipman often drive the tracks, giving musicians room to solo and show off their chops. While many of the songs are rooted in jazz, the contemporary stylings and production give these tracks a fresh sound.

Listen to Confluence on streaming and expect a full album release tour in 2025.

Rigger Morris: Self-titled EP

Fresh cowpunk band Rigger Morris is comprised of a trio of long-time friends who’ve kicked around Edmonton and area playing in various bands including Los Calaberas and Than Heroes among others. Now a little older and wiser, the trio — Codie McLachlan on guitar and lead vocals; Steve Wenger pitching in with bass and vocals; and Dylan Cuvilier behind the drums — have formed Rigger Morris, exploring macabre humour and pitch-dark tales soundtracked by bolts of twang and galloping percussion. 

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Rigger Morris’ self-titled EP is an electrifying blast of country and surf music (hey, if ninjas can surf why not cowboys?) Inspired by the speedy bluegrass stylings from Hank Williams III and Trampled by Turtles, the EP’s three tracks act as a sampler to Rigger Morris’ brand of gritty, buckwild country music.

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Track Dead Bird’s Bones is a punkish whirlwind of twangy fretwork, railroad percussion, and singing about old prairie roads and shallow graves. The Ballad of Rigger Morris tells the story of an Albertan roughneck with a drug habit. Punk That Got Old is a scathing, hilarious look back on a punk’s life, with McLachlan singing: “I hear words like rizz/ Buss, cap and skibidi/ On the videos making the round/ I scratch my head/ And say “golly gee jiminy”/ Then grunt out some old man sounds.”

Listen to Rigger Morris on your streaming platform of choice.

Quick hits

Landon Bushell, who released one of 2022’s best albums, is back with a brand new track, So Much. The straightforward rocker is the first taste of more music to come from Bushell.

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