It's tempting to call Julian Taylor's music music R&B, except that means something different today than it did in the days of Al Green, Bill Withers, and Van Morrison. JTB look and sound like a rock group, but have none of the macho posturing or distortion pedals--just a hot horn section. There was one week where Taylor found himself on two different Toronto stages paying tribute to Gordon Lightfoot and Bob Marley. Taylor has mused that this chameleonic quality is a product of the Toronto sound--not that of Drake's OVO crew in the 2010s, but one that dates back to the vibrant Yorkville scene that gave birth to the rock/R&B/soul/country hybrid of The Band, where David Clayton-Thomas of Blood, Sweat and Tears cut his teeth, where Steppenwolf started out as Sparrow, where Bruce Cockburn later sung with reggae star Leroy Sibbles. Unlike with previous LPs, this is the first time Taylor wrote lyrics before the music. I really want to make sure the lyrics tell a narrative, whether that is a story or an emotional journey. He had plenty to draw from. The 40-year-old guitarist, of mixed Mohawk and African-Canadian heritage, has had a rich life both off and on stage, having seen every side of the music biz: being the hot young thing with a record deal and a radio hit (with Staggered Crossing, in 2001), grinding it out on the cover band circuit, running his own indie label, and now having a creative rebirth in which all those years of experience are paying rich dividends. Recorded live of the studio floor, Avalanche is the sound of a band who is fully capable of cranking up to 11 and dazzling you with pyrotechnics, but chooses instead to put that energy into slinky grooves (Time, Take What You Need, Never Let the Lights Go Dim), smooth country rock (Back Again, Sweeter), and soulful blues (Avalanche, Learn to Love, Gone). His time as an underrated talent is surely over.
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