Reunited alt-rock stars Big Wreck have enjoyed a successful return in recent years, but rather than continue to focus on this comeback, Canadian-born frontman Ian Fletcher Thornley is heading into a new direction with his debut solo album. Secrets will be out on October 30 through Anthem Records/Warner Music Canada.
The album features a modest instrumental setup, with Thornley joined by the rhythm section of Big Wreck bassist Dave McMillan and Blue Rodeo drummer Glenn Milchem. The sessions were produced by Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Daniel Lanois, the Tragically Hip) at a remote cottage in northern Ontario. There was no click track or Auto-Tune, and a press release explains that "Howard's role was to capture the most honest performances of these songs."
Thornley said in a statement, "I'd thought about doing a solo acoustic album for years, but for me there's only a handful of artists who I consider can really pull that off. So I took some of these songs I'd been working on under that premise, and started fleshing them out with Glenn and Dave, and that's when a vision for this record really came together. I've always been a big fan of Mark's, and I couldn't think of anyone else better suited to produce this album."
A 95-second extract of the title track can be heard over at the songwriter website. It's a minimal acoustic ditty in which jaunty strums are presented with atmospheric, reverb-kissed production.
A fall tour will be announced soon. Album pre-orders will launch on October 2, and while we don't yet have the tracklist, song titles include "Feel," "How Long," "Just to Know I Can" and "On My Way." The album cover is above.
Although Secrets is Thornley's first proper solo album, it's worth pointing out that he has also released a couple of LPs with his eponymous hard rock project Thornley.
The album features a modest instrumental setup, with Thornley joined by the rhythm section of Big Wreck bassist Dave McMillan and Blue Rodeo drummer Glenn Milchem. The sessions were produced by Mark Howard (Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Daniel Lanois, the Tragically Hip) at a remote cottage in northern Ontario. There was no click track or Auto-Tune, and a press release explains that "Howard's role was to capture the most honest performances of these songs."
Thornley said in a statement, "I'd thought about doing a solo acoustic album for years, but for me there's only a handful of artists who I consider can really pull that off. So I took some of these songs I'd been working on under that premise, and started fleshing them out with Glenn and Dave, and that's when a vision for this record really came together. I've always been a big fan of Mark's, and I couldn't think of anyone else better suited to produce this album."
A 95-second extract of the title track can be heard over at the songwriter website. It's a minimal acoustic ditty in which jaunty strums are presented with atmospheric, reverb-kissed production.
A fall tour will be announced soon. Album pre-orders will launch on October 2, and while we don't yet have the tracklist, song titles include "Feel," "How Long," "Just to Know I Can" and "On My Way." The album cover is above.
Although Secrets is Thornley's first proper solo album, it's worth pointing out that he has also released a couple of LPs with his eponymous hard rock project Thornley.