Logan and Nathan - The Happening (2020)

Residing in BC after spending much of 2019 in opposite ends of Canada, are couple Logan Thackray and Nathan Turner. Sharing a passion for arts in its many forms, the pair have released their latest creation ‘The Happening’ in the good company of Fallen Tree Records, and to great effect. Having pulled together some very clever engineering and producing, they have also utilized their talents as multi-instrumentalists, that, for any fans of something leaning a little further to ambient indie-folk, will be very worthy of your time.

One of the most powerful and excellently worked songs on the album is the single ‘Lonely’. Its sparse and meditative musical backdrop acts as a soundscape that nurses the listener into a deep sense of solitude and loss of direction. Every word Logan speaks seems to be phrased with so much consideration, prompting similarities to the way in which Paul Simon so carefully phrased ‘Graceland’. Speaking ever closer to the mic, Logan whispers “Tripping over boxes I forgot to put away, cluttering my mind, with hypothesis stranded in parenthesis, falling through the other side, while we scrape off the underside, I hope no one has to see her in this light”. Corresponding with that message are a plethora of carefully placed overdubs, each cradled with creativity, always working with the narrative and reverberating much like the message of loneliness does. It turns out to be one of those unexpected songs that you previously knew little about but walk away thinking, I am glad I heard that today.

To begin the album, ‘Stumble’ and ‘How Does It Feel’ introduces us to the familiarities of Julia Stone. With Nathan’s guitars suspended dreamily over the top, it offers a little resemblance to that of John Mayers ‘Heavier Things’. It is pleasing to hear songs like ‘The Happening’ which pronounce that there is no eagerness to comply with mainstream attitudes as the song stretches out, opening with an extended level of suspense. In a similar sense, so does ‘Silhouette Canvas’, with its extended solo that you simply do not hear on conventional indie-folk albums.

In ‘Where Do We Go’ we hear those indie-folk vibes cross with hip-hop. This is another example of the lush production, with those squeaky-clean guitar tones and roomy drums, even the pulsating noise coming from the amp during the guitar solo adds a constructed ambience to the track. Nathan Turner was actually responsible for engineering, mixing, and producing the album which is illustrated by the detail and thought behind each song, clearly not born out of time constraints. It conducts purpose, it works, perhaps that is the product of being able to spend far more hours recording an album, it enables the opportunity to tell a far more complete story. Shifting a little off centre, ‘Nostalgia’, heads into a by-gone swing in the chorus and it is so carefully and purposely crafted that again, the music really acts as an extension to the narrative.

Towards the end of the album are two extremely gratifying drum grooves. Dropping in as righteously as Steve Gadd is the groove in ‘High On You’, which shuffles along with the kick on the pulse in 4/4, dropping off sweetly in the verse. My only disappointment, I did not get to hear that groove again. Then moving to ‘One Love, Big Heart’, it showcases another, this time almost completely linear, but just as addictive drum groove.

In conclusion, this is a very mature record for such a young couple. With their musical ambitions in the right place, at the very least, spare 5 minutes of your time to hear the beautifully crafted ‘Lonely’.