From the first blow of the harmonica, it’s abundantly clear to me that More How It Is, the brand new record from Ontarians, is about to take me somewhere. Through waves of what feels like a well-read rock record, comes a flourishing collection of genre-melding arrangements and methodically crafted stories, that exemplify the years of experience possessed by the founding members of this group.
I first heard Frank Deresti when I was about 17 years old. From 2008 to 2014, when Owen Sound was in its house-show heyday. Even before he started his set with his band The Lake Effect, I could feel the captivating effects of his effortless timbre washing over the room.
When it comes to storytelling, there are people who need to work hard to hold your attention, hopping from detail to hyperbolic detail. Then, there are people who utter each word on their own terms, refusing to pine for your attention. Frank Deresti is the latter. Whether it’s this sureness he emanates or the sincerity in his laid-back delivery, I hang on every word.
Craig Smith is a purveyor of the arts and has worked for years to facilitate live music in and around the Collingwood area. He’s one of the first people I met whose presence convinced me it was a worthwhile place to attend shows. A noteworthy songwriter, producer, and performer in his own right, Craig has captained many a musical success over the years.
You might think that these two individual brands of chill would work best as solo acts, but the truth begs to differ. While they both stay true to their mellow-voiced roots, the amalgamation of their efforts highlights the energetic and tonal differences of their styles. They use this combination of force to build on each other’s skill, experience, and experiences to create something entirely new.
Add spoken word, some ridiculously catchy hooks, some group vocals, the internationally renowned stylings of Jay Stiles (yes, you’ve heard of him), and the intuitively-tasteful rhythm of Chris Johns and you have a collection of well-written anthems fit for amphitheaters that smell like cool air and campfire smoke.
With hints of Wilco, the Raconteurs, Kurt Vile, and Simon and Garfunkel, More How It Is by Ontarians places as much weight on songwriting as it does production, proving that production is, in itself, an extension of writing.
Boo is an annunciation of what it feels like to ask a loved one the difficult question “will you still think of me when I’m gone?” while tracks like Baby on a Bike call into question the integrity of forced-earnestness with lines like “read the picture for the caption”. Start Over asks “do you ever reminisce about the simple times before, when we were running from the adults we might soon be working for?” Each of these questions feel like Ontarians are providing a commentary on the difficulties of life as a human being, but tread delicately in their delivery and never verge into the arena of straight up complaining.
While there is a heaviness at times in this effort, it never comes without a little refrain. In Trippin’ I can almost hear the sound of a sunset turning purple, and want to be speeding down a highway, not thinking about where I’m going, or about whether the gas in my tank will get me there, just moving with a smile on my face.
Over the course of these 10 tracks, Ontarians delve into the kind of nuanced topics that can often be hard to discuss openly. They’ve produced a collection of music that asks us to ask ourselves tricky questions, but doesn’t rush us, and they’ve delivered it using tasteful pedal steel, airy drums, sparkling pianos, boosted organs, familiar guitars, and a pair of vocals that sit so front-and-centre that I can’t help but feel like I’m being spoken to, directly.
If you want to hear the sound of someone, settling into the acceptance of the things we can’t change, while cleverly acknowledging and challenging their existence, do yourself a favour: set aside some time to be present and go listen to More How It Is, now.
Written by Marshall Veroni
Photos provided by Ontarians
