Sometimes it doesn’t suck to be growing up and getting older and it seems that Canadian songstress Julie Doiron knows it too. On her sixth solo album since her days in Eric’s Trip, I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day, her songs range from simple vocal with acoustic guitar arrangements (that sound as if she picked up a guitar and recorded a song, her surroundings be damned) to fuzzed-out noisy full-band indie-rock jams that are great but (as always) I enjoy and appreciate Doiron’s lyrics more than I do most. Her lyrics are rich with the imagery of comfort and can turn mundane everyday occurrences into something romantic. They are simple, practical, and true-to-life spins on life and love the way it really is; like romance and love without the mystery. Doiron’s songs are like true love once you’ve been married for 10 years, had kids, and all that lust and puppy love is long gone, except she’s still giddy and happy about life’s small pleasures. If you need more proof, the album is bookended with two songs titled “Living The Life Of Dreams,” and “Glad To Be Alive.”
Everything about Julie Doiron (to me at least) has always seemed genuine and it still does on I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day but here she just sounds a little more carefree or (hmm…) happy than she has on albums like Heart And Crime and Desormais. Nothing (however) has changed about her unadorned and plaintive vocals and her (sometimes) unconventional phrasing that’s always seemed a bit haphazard. I love it and everything about this album that is perfectly imperfect. But Julie Doiron has never been about perfection; it’s always been more about “that’s good enough for me.” It’s an endearing quality that just makes her that much more human, uncertain, and regular (as if singing about how “it’s always nice to come home” and about uttering the phrase “comfy bed” wasn’t enough).
I’ve been a fan of hers for ten years now but from the chirping birds and breezy opening notes of “Living The Life Of Dreams” to the 3 seconds of bombast that jarringly breaks open the middle of “Spill Yer Lungs” and the noisy bridge of “Consolation Prize” and back to the sweet softness of “Glad To Be Alive,” I Can Wonder What You Did With Your Day is Julie Doiron’s most consistently listenable album to date. Either I’m relating more, she’s getting better, or (perhaps) both, but I can’t find anything other than praise for this album so have a listen. Thanks Jagjaguwar!
MP3 | Julie Doiron – Consolation Prize I Can Wonder…
MP3 | Julie Doiron – Nice To Come Home I Can Wonder…
