Mayor McCA

Now he is on his own, and while his songs sing about not having a home, Mayor McCA, the hard-working one-man band singing sensation, has certainly found a musical adobe. On his fourth self-released epic, the mayor has never sounded better. In glorious hi-fidelity, this continuous, flowing pseudo-symphonic, cathartic-thematic masterpiece speaks truthfully, personally and beautifully of being a poor artist living in a "ghetto" home and the struggles of self-identity, while still celebrating the little things — everything from getting a haircut to being in love. In some respects, it is reminiscent of the structure of Pink Floyd's The Wall, and is much more accessible (and superior) than his previous efforts. The instrumentation explores ranges of vocal patterns and textures, juxtaposed with complex to simplistic modern arrangements. And it hits home rather hard, but with elegance. The Mayor explains, "the album is worked out like a symphony — there is a musical theme and there are variations on the theme. Then they all come back in the end. All of the songs tie into each other, too. As far as subject matter goes — it's all about being in a place where I didn't wanna be, extremely poor and my experiences after running for mayor [of Hamilton, Ontario]. In a nutshell, it's all about having a home." The great thing about being alone in the musical world is focus, which also contains pure honesty. "What makes this different from the rest is I think this one was a little more personal. A little sadder. I always do things for myself, but this one was pretty self-indulgent. I don't think that's a bad thing necessarily — I think my brain would've exploded if I didn't write this album. I had to write it so I could put those times behind me." The result isn’t dark, and the Mayor has finally come to an arrival of sorts; being an artist who stays true to himself, someone within who’s work everyone will find a piece of themselves.