Steve Reynolds
Born in Vancouver Canada but now based in Echo Park, California, Reynolds was the first signing to the new singer-songwriter label Fruitcake.
Moody, soulful and compelling, the songs on Exile are rooted in the Canadian’s experiences as a tugboat deckhand and construction worker. He’s also mined the likes of James Joyce, Bowie (circa Hunky Dory), the Pogues and Van Morrison (plus time spent in Scotland, New Zealand and Ireland) to create an album that’s atmospheric and rich with imagery, though not unrelentingly dark:
‘I do hope I’m creating something where I’m telling a story that might start out in the gutter but have a light at the end of it,’ explains Reynolds who recently supported Tom McCrae on tour in the UK. ‘That’s not a conscious thing where I feel like I always have to put hope in there but I don’t want to live in bleakness. I just think for me, it’s important to feel there’s a forward motion.’
For instance ‘Dear Rose’ is a song about a father grieving for his daughter but the music swirls suddenly around an uplifting chorus. ‘It’s about this father crying over his daughter’s grave because she got caught in the crossfire of a gang battle,’ says Reynolds. ‘Is this what growing up has become for this generation? But it’s the naivete behind that face – behind the bravado and toughness – that I was interested in. You just see that one little glimmer – ‘maybe I can be a kid . . . . . ”
Meanwhile, the haunting ‘Miner’s Lamp’ is illuminated by one of Reynolds’ finest vocals, ‘That Old Love’ offers a tender, almost folk-ish lilt as he describes a relationship falling apart and the stripped-back, acoustic ‘Satellite’ is one of the album’s most instant highlights.
