‘To Be Clear’ is C’est le fun! (“it’s awesome” in French Canadian)
Sometimes, it all comes together. As is the case for Mia Kelly’s second album, ‘To Be Clear’. The lyrics are poetic and tell a good story. The sounds of the words are echoed in the music. The instruments accentuate the vocals. The vocals deliver the emotion and the meaning of the lyrics.
Kelly is gaining recognition for her prodigious talent. She was awarded Young Performer of the Year and Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2024 Canadian Folk Music Awards. For this album, she worked with the same producer as her debut – fellow songwriter Jim Bryson (The Tragically Hip, Kathleen Edwards) which was again recorded at his Fixed Hinge Studio in Ontario, Canada. Kelly and Bryson handled most of the instrumentation and recruited Dani Nash (Drums; Sarah Harmer, July Talk), Olivier Fairfield (Drums; Patrick Watson, Leif Vollebekk) Brian Sanderson (Horns; Esmerine), Nick Loyer, and Allysann Foehring (BV) to round things out.
So, what came out these sessions? Kelly and Co. created songs that sound clear and light like water over stones or raindrops dripping off the trees when the sun comes out. All of these sounds are at the service of Kelly’s voice, which at times is evocative of ancient chants heard softly on an early morning and at others, like a chanteuse late at night in a club deep in the Laurentians.
‘Bonefish Boys’ leads off the album with Kelly singing a bluesy ballad about a man she met while travelling. It moves from his enlistment in the Royal Navy in 1954 through the addiction he developed during the counterculture. Kelly’s voice captures all of the pain of a young boy’s life at sea and its deterioration into decades of drug abuse.
The second track, ‘South Went the Bird’ , is a bittersweet song of love lost. Kelly is accompanied by Bryson on piano, guitar and percussion. This sets the tone for a number of tracks; orchestration perfectly pitched to highlight Kelly’s vocals. And her voice rings out with exceptional clarity and emotion.
This isn’t the only song about pain and loss. ‘Watercolor Girl’ is inspired by a line from Kelly’s grandmother, “I’m afraid that if I cry/I may never stop.” Yet, Kelly is neither histrionic or maudlin. Her lyrics are of the pain we all feel. She sings of authentic hurt and the human ability to transcend it. As she sings in ‘Meaning Well’, “And I’ll be honest even if it hurts like hell/ And it hurts like hell/ Oh can’t you tell that I’m trying to do what’s right/ And do it well’. It has to be one the best songs ever about breaking up and the pain, even if you’re the person initiating it.
‘Si J’etais Franche’ is the first of two French songs on the album. They firmly establish Kelly’s Quebecois credentials – though you can hear the influence in the rhythm and the phrasing in many of her songs. French Canadian music is distinctive. It is related to Cajun music but in some ways, it is older and manifests less African influence. In this album, there is a lightness that makes you want to dance even when your heart is breaking. It comes through in songs on topics as tough as the domestic abuse Kelly sings about in ‘Rideau Tombe’, the second French song on the album.
Along with all her other assets, Kelly is a great storyteller and the back-to-back songs, `Lone Dog’ and ‘Oleander’ are great examples. The first is about a serial sexual predator and the second about how his reign of terror is brought to an end.
Woven into most of her songs is a deep joy, particularly in the last, ‘Remedy River’. It is on its way to joining the ranks of great songs about rivers. And it reflects Kelly’s love for the river that runs through her hometown. The story is she learned the river’s rhythm river surfing it during the spring.
This album is a joy. C’est Tiguidou!
