Greg MacPherson

From the opening lines of "First Class," this latest effort from MacPherson feels almost like a Tom Clancy thriller. The Winnipeg singer-songwriter has always been noted for injecting political intrigue into his music, but Mr. Invitation may be the first of his four albums to musically match the power of his pen. Although sonically sparse, MacPherson and his trio zero in on the core of each track, and extract meaning from each note. These are not songs that can be easily ignored, even when MacPherson dials down the drama, as on "Travelling Style." The end result is an artist in full command of his creative faculties, and knowing it. It would be easy to compare Mr. Invitation to the best work of the Weakerthans or the Tragically Hip, but that would be doing MacPherson a disservice, since many moments on this album are better. Now is the time when MacPherson needs to be considered amongst the best Canadian singer-songwriters on the scene today.