I think I'm allowed to do a shortened review of the new album by 'Dirt Farmer for a couple of reasons - firstly the Moddi review was just a bit epic, and took way longer than I wanted so we have a lot to catch up on, and Dirt Farmer are only 'part Nordic' anyway - courtesy of drummer Christer Bjorklund and some of the additional musicians. Dirt Farmer are mainly Canadian and comprise of the songwriting duo of Scott Cryer and Rob Macdonald, and it's the strength of that songwriting duo which makes this album good.
After an opening in 'Your New Mornings' which remind me a little of the wistful and expressive tunes that Badly Drawn Boy wrote in his prime, the tempo changes with 'She Needs You', with a killer chorus which is instantly likeable. 'Lovebroke' has an effortless laid back quality to it, whilst 'Everything' has some lovely subtle moments and the lyrics work well here too. 'Pocket Call' is probably the strongest of the later tracks, although final track 'Bottomless' continues to grow on me after multiple listens, with a really clever and richly textured instrumental section to conclude the album.
'Canadian Beach' is a well written and thoughtful release with lovely melodies at it's core. I guess it fits somewhere in the middle of the Indie Pop Rock genre, taking influences from different decades, but ultimately it offers something which has a fairly timeless quality to it. Similarly to the Kristoffer Axen album we reviewed recently, whilst the lyrics are well considered and at times personal, musically this isn't 'hard hitting'. But good tunes are good tunes, and 'Dirt Farmer' have an ability to write them over and over - 'Canadian Beach' is definitely recommended to take a listen to this week.
Nordic Music Review 7.5 / 10