Greg MacPherson

On his previous album, 2010's Mr. Invitation, Greg MacPherson was poised to break through into the wider rock sphere. However, the demise of the two Winnipeg labels that had put out his records since 1997 forced the singer-songwriter back to square one. Disintegration Blues is MacPherson's first release on his label and as such contains a more homespun feeling than its predecessor. MacPherson's fire hasn't dimmed though; sticking with a simple three-piece line-up on most tracks, he's still able to pack as much punch into them as anything recently done by the artists he most often evokes, such as Bruce Springsteen and Gordon Downie. In fact, Disintegration Blues hits its stride midway through with the Joy Division-esque "Frequencies," but MacPherson leans on his exceptional storytelling ability with tracks like "Ukrainians" and "Snowman." With any luck, MacPherson's breakthrough is still on the horizon; Disintegration Blues stands head and shoulders above the work of the vast majority of the current Canadian singer-songwriter crowd.