Mentors is the fifth album from Fish in a Birdcage, and it holds a lesson or two.
By Graeme Smith
Fish in a Birdcage is an experimental folk-pop project led by Canadian singer songwriter Dusty Townsend. An experienced multi-instrumentalist, Dusty combines formal musical education with the hard knocks of being a professional musician, and a love for cello, the instrument that kick-started his career.
It’s what greets us at the start of album opener Microphone, a track inspired by a question he used to ask passengers while driving a cab. “What if someone handed you a microphone and you were connected to millions of people all over the planet?” he says. “What would you say? The answers that I got were so wide and varied, which is why I just loved asking that question.” The alternative style of Fish in a Birdcage is on immediate display during its stripped back but powerful arrangement.
From there we get a collection of eleven more tracks framed as lessons with each track title preceded by a rule number. Long Way from Home explores a world with different priorities through a smouldering soft rock arrangement while title track Mentors takes things in a gentler direction with a delicate classical-infused wonder. Lore is about wisdom passed down through generations. It lilts playfully and with a sense of understated drama. Chosen bristles with a sense of vaudeville. Badger brings some Patrick Wolf-style bombast before Poet closes the album in soulful style.
I found myself so easily lost in Fish in a Birdcage’s new album. His musicianship and lyricism shines through in every note and there are some powerful lessons to be learned across its twelve tracks.
Mentors is out now and you can give it a listen below.