Julie Doiron- <i>Woke Myself Up</i>

After a few sleepy records and band flirtations, Julie Doiron called upon her mates in Eric’s Trip to make the most adored and engaging record of her solo career. Pioneers of sludgy, lo-fi indie rock, Doiron, Rick White, Chris Thompson, and Mark Gaudet created truly eclectic rock records together during the ‘90s, blending punk fury with sombre, folk-infused songs about the joy of love and the perils of heartbreak. In reconvening to focus solely on Doiron’s music, the return of the familiar Eric’s Trip dynamic is exciting, but it’d be little more than a nostalgic sidetrack if not for Doiron’s songs, some of the most bittersweet and compelling she’s composed. A brave and deeply personal writer, Doiron’s familial upheavals inform a record about her relationships with her work and loved ones. Themes of betrayal, forgiveness, reconciliation, and disintegration mingle together to create emotionally complex songs. The narrative mood swings are reflected in the music as well, with sad songs like "I Woke Myself Up” wrapped in jaunty packages and relatively gentle numbers like "I Left Town” and "Yer Kids” exploring the highs of romantic coupling and motherhood. With primal things like "Don’t Wannabe/Liked by You” and the gorgeous, hazy "The Wrong Guy,” Woke Myself Up is surely one of the finest, most powerful albums of the year.