Ruth Minnikin and her Bandwagon

Enlisting the help of her Bandwagon and two producers with very distinct styles, Minnikin has materialized the symphonic opus of her imagination into a split personality record. In contrast to her 2006 solo release, Folk Art, a rootsy, no-frills album recorded and mixed in three days, Depend on This took more than two years to bring to light, requiring an ensemble of musicians and instruments, as well as a men's vocal choir, to reach its full potential. Described by the Nova Scotian as "a conceptually dramatized exaggeration of an avant-garde jalapeno pepper on a life raft" and later as "a concept album highlighting people's different perspectives about death," it's impossible to pin down the album's raison d'être without experiencing it firsthand. Six tracks parade before the listener, ranging in style from bluegrass to country to cha-cha, then return as reincarnated versions of themselves. The synth-laden and bass-spiked metamorphosis, courtesy of producer Chuck Blazevic (Dreamsploitation), makes the second half of Depend on This conspicuously stirring. Brimming with vitality and talent, Ruth Minnikin lends an unorthodox charm to the life raft that carries her adventurous followers through bright tunnels of light and into the unknown.