Abernethy

Vancouver, BC native Joe Abernethy writes literate love songs but has his own way of performing them. The World Outside The Window, like its predecessor, is a difficult album to pin down because it has such an unusual sound. Abernethy's delivery is not unlike that of Stephen Coates (the Real Tuesday Weld) ― theatrical crooning that will divide people. The majority of the music is electronic but the way the synths lurk in the background, sweeping around, is sometimes at odds with the vocals, making for a somewhat unsettling mix. It doesn't help that the music inevitably sounds like it's on the brink of kicking in, with something more substantial waiting in the wings, yet it doesn't always deliver. The World Outside The Window sounds more like a work-in-progress than a completed album, and while there are some good ideas, the execution lets it down far too frequently.