Revival Dear

“Revival Dear”

Uspin Records

Imagine, in these woebegone, vapid days of what can barely be called music that there is a new group with a timeless, deep and soulful feel that just makes a listener feel good, right and just at the same time.

Impossible, you say? Well, it’s not. Check out “Revival Dear,” the outstanding debut release from the so talented that it should be illegal Eddie Orso and Shelley Hayes, a pair of Canadians who are drawing righteous comparisons with so many of the past and present stellar acts emanating from north of the border.

It is just so rare, make it extraordinary, in these pre-programmed times of studio wizardry masking serious lack of talent that two people can make an album sound so fresh, so detailed and yet so delicately simple and emotional at the same time.

From the electric bounce of the opening track, “Town That I’ve Known,” to the timeliness of “Hog Tied,” to the beauty and pathos of “Hometown Down Heart,” and all the other great tracks, Orso and Hayes sound magnificent together. All together, they have constructed one of the classic albums of the year.

“Revival Dear” is amazing. I haven’t felt this good about music from Canada since the heyday of The Band.

- Mark T. Gould

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