Tin Angel Records is sending its troops out into the wild. The
Coventry, England-based indie label is home to arguably the most eclectic
roster on either side of the Atlantic, and its earliest (and perhaps most
popular) troop, Devon Sproule, is heading to Europe with her newest
studio record, I Love You, Go Easy, in toe.
Devon
worked with Canadian producer Sandro Perri for the first time on I Love You, Go
Easy, who she'd not met before. All Devons albums before were recorded by
husband and fellow Tin Angel artist, Paul Curreri. Devon met Sandro for the
first time whilst touring the northern border of the US. It was Sandro who
suggested the band The Slit as Devon's backing band for this record. The Slit
are a trio known as one of the few Toronto groups to successfully infuse the
spirit of experimentalism into pop music – they frequently incorporate
trombone, bass clarinet, flute and analog synth to give them their signature
sound. Devon found that all three guys were highly trained, but were perfectly
willing to put aside virtuosity in favor of a lovely crackle, or the perfect
bleep or buzz. And they always kept a respectful eye on the song itself, which
can slip away if you’re not watching. In the end, they’re your basic,
run-of-the-mill trio of handsome, rebellious, minimalistic, emotional geeks. Can
you tell that she grew to love them?
Sandro Perri was right: The Silt's sound suits Sproule's new material
remarkably well, as it does the well-chosen covers: “Body’s in Trouble” by
Toronto-native and cult heroine Mary Margaret O’Hara, and The Roches’ “Runs in
the Family.” As usual, Sproule’s songs span the genre spectrum: “Now’s the
Time” is a loose Neil-Youngish twanger made utterly original by the
introduction of Ryan Driver’s searing analog synth. “If I Can Do This (I Can Do
Anything)” is the floating, flouting mantra of the record. Doug Tielli’s
staccato trumpet punctuates the jazz-influenced, call-and-response of “Monk /
Monkey.” And the title track, “I Love You, Go Easy,” (easily Sproule’s finest
vocal performance of her career) takes a slow walk with some of the most
thoughtful piano voicings in recent pop memory.
I Love You, Go Easy, while sonically sparser than any of her recent records, is
a thematically logical next chapter to Sproule's story. It's a story that has
always revolved around her relationships with people – most notably, her
husband, Paul Curreri, a fellow Tin Angel Records recording artist.
Even at its most somber and reflective moments, I Love You, Go Easy never loses
the sparkling tenderness & humor that characterizes all of Sproule's work.
Perhaps her true talent lies in her ability to net the universally shared and
make it unique, to fix her spyglass on the everyday and show it anew, to prove
it undeniably worthy of a fresh look.
Sproule's first UK release, Keep Your Silver Shined,
proved an indie hit for her Coventry-based label Tin Angel Records, topping
year-end lists and landing her a spot on Later...with Jools Holland. Paste Magazine called Silver “The
sexiest, sultriest southern album since Lucinda’s Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.”
Since its emergence in 2007, Tin Angel Records has become a small but
successful label, home to artists including Sproule, Curreri, Baby Dee, Sean
Hayes, Black Carrot, Trumpets of Death, Fabrizio Modense Palumbo, Julia Kent,
and others. "The label roster is like our record collection at home,"
Sproule says, "not a lot of current ‘folkies,’ just folks who are doing
something different... usually a bit weird, a bit private, and always really
good. Shit, I think I might be the most normal one on there! And that's kind've
saying a lot."