Album Review: Patrick Watson - Adventures In Your Own Backyard

From the fragile piano melody that introduces opener, Lighthouse, to the sonic and lush explosions of Step Out For A While, Patrick Watson – name of both the band and its charismatic frontman – yet again deliver an album filled with mesmerising moments and magical interludes in this their fourth release, Adventures In Your Own Backyard.

Their 2007 Polaris Prize win garnered them much attention for their second record, Close To Paradise, and they've since grown into a critically-acclaimed outfit, producing promising record after promising record, all of which showcase their penchant for immensely melodic chamber folk arrangements, a style that has often been compared to Antony & The Johnsons.

Adventures… is musically, at times, much sparser than its predecessors, but continues to evoke emotions as it tells the stories of their friends and families back home. Strange Crooked Road unveils confronting tales of mortality as Watson sings, “Roland had a dream of making big news/Bought a stick of dynamite and he lit the fuse/And on his CB radio told his friends it was time to go/Boom/He made the front page the very next day.”

There are a number of breathtaking moments on the record; Noisy Sunday's memorable refrain, imitated by the flugel horns echoing in and out of the song's outro; The Things You Do's elongated conversation between the bassoon and the ambient soundscape reeling you into a whimsical and mysterious world, and the chilling sparseness of The Quiet Crowd, coupled with Watson's breezy, raspy falsetto.

Adventures… is a record that is no better or worse than the band's previous offerings, but one that fits congruously within their catalogue.