If you’ve ever wished that Geoff Berner would chill the heck out and set his intelligent, intricate lyrics to brighter softer folk music, your day has come – but only sort of.
Geoff Berner’s latest album, Canadiana Grotesquica, is a modest departure from his klezmer punk style. Set to be released this Friday at the Russian Hall as part of the Accordian Noir Festival, a start-to-finish listen suggests that Berner has softened slightly with age, and has mellowed out from his rough and tumble accordion era.
“The last bunch of albums have been kind of klezmer albums – Jewish folk music, with some punk elements,” says the musician, perhaps best known for his pissed-off ode to condosin Vancouver and other highly political songs. During the time when he was producing those albums, other songs “popped out” that were more country or, gasp, singer-songwriter-y.
Canadiana Grotesquicais a collection of those slightly gentler songs. “A lot of it is stuff where I would try it out at shows and people would be like ‘Where can I get that?’ and I'd be like ‘I can't help you, because I’m bad at business [and haven’t recorded any of them],’” Berner says.
Given his political leanings, one would expect that, even on a more folksy album, Berner would take U.S. President Donald Trump to task. But he intentionally doesn’t.
“I was writing through the Bush era and he was a dangerous fool, and there are a lot of terrible punk songs about how Bush was bad and dumb," he laughs. "They were boring songs, even though I agreed with the opinions of them… I'm more interested in addressing the failures of liberal democracy that have led us to this place.”
And that he does. In “Hustle Advisory,” a duet with East Vancouver darling Frazey Ford, Berner tells the story of a young person awakening to the contradictions of late capitalism, and asks “are you ready to fuck with the hustling power? Because that is the changing test.” Set to loud electric guitar, it’s definitely not mellow, although the harmony of Ford’s voice is enough to swell the hearts of jaded activists, even if only momentarily.
Meanwhile, “Prairie Wind” dials it back to a soft dreamscape with a crooning slide guitar and banjo. The song, however, isn’t new. It just took Berner 13 years to record it, and 13 years of friends and fans egging him on.
“Every time I [would] see [radio host and Westender columnist] Grant Lawrence, he goes ‘When are you going to record that song “Prairie Wind” that you did for the CBC session in 2004?’”
Softer style aside, Berner’s long-time fans needn’t worry. Although this album includes a dramatic cover of a Rae Spoon song, Berner’s klezmer badassery hasn’t disappeared.“I don't see it as a permanent move,” he says. “I'm going to go back at the klezmer action for the next record; I'm not disavowing my klezmer punk period.”
• Geoff Berner’s album release party takes place Friday Sept. 9 at 8 p.m. at the Russian Hall (600 Campbell Ave.) Tickets $20 advance, $25 at the door, sliding scale available upon request.
