Cam Penner is an artist I first came across several years
ago when he supported a gig by alt-country troubadours the Bastard Sons of
Johnny Cash. While his name keeps cropping up in various publications, it has
to be admitted that not a lot of his material has been listened to. So being
presented with the opportunity to review this album gave me a chance to
re-acquaint myself with his work.
TO BUILD A FIRE is the seventh release by this Canadian
artist who prior to launching his recording career in 2002 immersed himself in
a life far away from comfortable suburbia. The experiences gained from viewing
life from the less salubrious side have proved a creative tap to this singer-songwriter
and the albums have come fairly frequently over the ensuing years. It is
probably best to describe Cam Penner as a folk experimentalist and he is certainly
an acquired antidote to simple roots music. However if you can tap into his
wavelength, rich pickings are there to be enjoyed.
All ten tracks have emerged from the pen of Cam although Jon
Wood shared the credits for ‘River
Forgotten’ a slow banjo influenced tune with a relaxing almost languid
sound. This much misunderstood yet revivalist instrument features regularly in
the tracks alongside guitar, ukulele and plenty of thumping percussion. However
the roots sound is not the source of album opener ‘Mighty Dam Animator’ which emerges as an instrumental with a brass
section that poses more questions than it answers. In fact this record does
take a few songs to get into its stride with the title track and ‘This Could Be Your Anthem’ not really
registering any desire to return to.
Despite this sluggish beginning the album does burst into
life with its standout track ‘Memphis’
where a mini rap like chant leads you into a hypnotic and rhythmic chorus of ‘I
miss Memphis more than Tennessee’. This fine song with its memorable hook has a
resemblance to some of the experimental material Steve Earle has done recently.
This album highlight is closely followed by ‘House of Liars’ with its ear catching roots rhythm continually
repeating the line ‘who will rock the boat’.
Just as the reflective ballad ‘Whiskey Lips’ drifts the album to its conclusion with a faint hint
of slide guitar, you start to feel that you’ve grasped the mood and ready to
offer forgiveness for the slow start. However this release will require
patience and an ability to connect with the inner thoughts of Cam Penner. On a
footnote the album sleeve contains a poignant Woody Guthrie quote referring to
the measuring of greatness in music being made clearer when the opposition is
known, a definite pause for thought moment.