Even after years of living in the same city, there are moments of surprising discovery—times when a familiar street or neighborhood suddenly feels new. It might happen during a detour to avoid traffic or an aimless wander on a quiet weekend morning. You find yourself in a part of town that feels both unfamiliar and familiar at once, as though you've uncovered a hidden corner of a childhood home. For a few seconds, you might struggle to reconcile this new terrain with the streets you know so well. But then, around the corner, the familiar landmarks reappear, and logic returns. In the end, you realize you’ve been within the same neighborhood all along, even though it seemed like a different world.
This sense of discovery and shifting perspective is at the heart of Way Through, the new album from Toronto-based musicians Chris A. Cummings, Joseph Shabason, and Thom Gill, who have come together under the moniker Cici Arthur. Announced today, Way Through will be released on February 21st, 2024, via Western Vinyl, and is available for pre-order now.
The first single, All So Incredible, is out today, accompanied by a stunning video directed by Nicholas Krgovich. Featuring rare, time-capsule footage shot in the late 60s by Gary Whitefield Coward and generously provided by Mara Coward, the video offers a window into the past, beautifully complementing the song's poignant emotional tone. You can watch the video now on YouTube.
With Way Through, the trio has created something expansive—large-scale setpieces designed to showcase Cummings' vocals and songwriting. Producer-instrumentalists Shabason and Gill infuse the album with a rich blend of influences, from the sophisticated slink of Antonio Carlos Jobim to the lush romanticism of Frank Sinatra. The album captures the communal spirit of Shabason’s previous projects, but takes it to new, panoramic heights. It features an impressive lineup of collaborators, including drummer Phil Melanson (Sam Gendel, Sam Amidon, Andy Shauf), frequent partner Nicholas Krgovich, and renowned violinist Owen Pallet, who arranges a 30-piece orchestra for the album. Dorothea Paas’s glassy harmonies weave through the arrangements, adding depth to the rich textures of the trio’s sound. The result is a work that is both grand in its scope and intimate in its emotional vulnerability—characteristic of much of Joseph Shabason’s work.
The idea for the album began in 2020, when Chris Cummings found himself at a crossroads, having lost his job of twenty years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In his early fifties, with a lifetime of plans and dreams now in flux, Cummings threw himself into full-time music creation for the first time. His leap of faith resonated deeply with his collaborators, inspiring them to craft bespoke arrangements that would elevate his distinctive voice and lyrical sensibility. “I wanted to make a big record for Chris,” Shabason says. “Something grand, something that felt like a full band, something with all the energy of an orchestra swelling behind him.”
Despite the album’s expansive sound, Cummings’ approach to singing remains understated and introspective, as he navigates emotional terrain with delicate precision. His lyrics capture the quiet complexities of urban life—city lights gleaming in rain puddles, mixed emotions playing out under gray skies. In Cartwheels for Coins, he reflects on the conflict between ambition and reality: “If I could be all that once looked so great and grand, I would have died for an occasion to rise to, but it’s a gray sky, nothing to say, mixed emotions always get in the way.” These reflections encapsulate the spirit of Way Through: an album that navigates the tension between the grandeur of dreams and the grounded nature of everyday life.
For Cummings, the title track Way Through represents a kind of personal revelation. In 2020, as he faced the uncertainty of his future, he began exploring new paths—literally and figuratively. Taking bike trips through suburban neighborhoods he'd never visited, he discovered new ways of seeing his city, mirroring the broader journey of life itself: full of unexpected turns, dead ends, and, ultimately, the possibility of finding a way through. The track echoes this sentiment: “What good are dead ends when I’m looking through a way through,” Cummings sings, over a swelling brass section. “When the miracle you’d hoped for never comes, it’s hard to take, but it’s your fault for hoping.”
For all its orchestral splendor, Way Through offers a refreshing dose of realism. It’s an album about navigating life's unexpected turns with honesty and grace, and celebrating the beauty of what lies in between the highs and lows.
Way Through will be available everywhere on February 21st, 2024, and the first single, All So Incredible, is out now.
No comments:
Post a Comment