SOJOURNS
The fresh perspective presented in the return from a metamorphic journey is a salve; a revelation. So foundational to understanding of self is the reincarnation, it consumes and leaves one open to new experience. So reads the arc of Max’s upcoming album, Sojourns.
Sojourns is a departure; a brief glimpse into the formative moments of guiding turbulence and quiescence of the past few years. Each piece evolved from the literature and life lessons necessary to integrate an ever-evolving worldview and constantly shifting foundations.
Through the album’s cascading arc, it flirts with genres like Americana, punk, folk, and electronica, spiralling and interweaving common threads throughout.
So foundational to an understanding of self is the reincarnation, as it consumes and leaves one open to new experience. So reads the arc of Sojourns.
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O, the Holidays are Near!
VESTIGES
Susurrant
On a placid Christmas Eve-Eve some seven years ago, a new wintertime tradition was sparked when Max took to the only quiet room in his family’s house to record an intimate rendition of Welcome Christmas from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. From the initial effort, the tradition has earned more pizzaz and character with each passing year thanks to collaboration with fellow lover of yule Joel Matthew Gray.
In light of their mutual love of the holidays they have assembled an evening’s worth of beloved music including two original songs: a funky, blue-eyed soul, 2020 anthem of unity, Wintertime is Back!, and the Tin-Pan-Alley-inspired throwback waltz, O, the Holidays are Near!
This time of year has always held a special place in the lives of Max and Joel, and their intention has always been to try to share the utter joy they feel with others, regardless of how and what others celebrate. We hope you will enjoy listening through the musical journey upon which we have embarked over the years with many great friends, and will find a place for it in your yearly traditions.
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A trace; visible evidence of something that is no longer present. A part that is imperfectly developed in comparison to that of a past generation. Indelible marks from the kairos of a developing soul.
Vestiges is a rite of passage — an echo of our collective wisdom, a tribute to our fore-family, and an acknowledgement of the inseparable confluence. Born of youthful epiphanies and wielding a sophic nonchalance, Vestiges is a revealing look into the lasting power and influence of our personal and collective histories.
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Susurrant was captured in a small farmhouse outside of Lethbridge, Alberta. Over the course of the winter months, his co-producer, and long-time collaborator, Matthew Rederburg live-tracked Max’s intimate guitar-voice duets, being sure to exploit the quirks and nuances of the room acoustics. It was from the rickety walls and home-constructed acoustic paneling which Susurrant was born — a hiemal collection recorded in the dead of winter out in the bliss of the dark skies and the open prairie.
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Sleeping Beneath the Trees
Sleeping Beneath the Trees is the product of two years of recording and building songs in the depths of the University of Lethbridge’s concrete labyrinthine Fine Arts building. The overarching theme of the album touches on the beauty and power of nature and how we interact both with, and within it. The lyrics delve into topics such as the abstract nature of time, our perceptions of humankind and the universe, the inseparability of positive and negative, and a tribute to personal role models and influences. I hope you enjoy listening to is as much as I have enjoyed creating it.
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Singles
Good Ol’ Fashioned Cheer is a tribute to the Christmas songs of old with a modern twist. Eclectic, yet familiar and bursting with nostalgia and cheer. Bruno Major meets Theo Katzman meets Stevie Wonder.
This time of year has always held a special place in the lives of Max and Joel, and their intention has always been to try to share the utter joy they feel with others, regardless of how and what others celebrate. We hope you will enjoy listening to our funky, blue-eyed soul anthem of unity for 2020, and will find a place for it in your yearly traditions.
There comes a time when it feels like the human race is taking steps backwards in our journey toward the right answers. How are we to become the solution to our downfalls? The answer lies within ourselves
Subsistence — the quality of having a timeless or abstract existence. This song is a meditative chant based on the concept of anapanasati, meaning mindfulness of breathing.
Through mindful breathing we arrive back in the present moment and stop running. As a result we become more sovereign and free, bringing us back to the ultimate dimension, or reality.
You are one with all and all is one with you; there are not individual forces in the universe, merely different iterations of the same one.