Ontario’s
Francine Honey has released a new album, her third, entitled To Be
Continued and the eleven songs are among the best yet she’s
committed to a recording. The album hangs together in a way few extended
releases down in the modern era and she clearly placed much thought into the
track listing; the dramatic flow of the album makes a lot of sense and peaks at
just the right points. The songs rely on traditional instruments rather than
stirring the pot with exotic sounds, but the arrangements are uniformly
intelligent and reach emotional heights without ever straining to make an
impact.
“Snowflakes
on My Eyelashes” has light reverb on its electric guitar work that contrasts
well against the slowly evolving violin. Another part of the song that will
stand out here and elsewhere throughout To Be Continued… is its drumming;
there isn’t a single wasted beat throughout the song and even the climatic
moments refrain from rushing the tempo unnecessarily. “Stay” is one of the
album’s most straight ahead love songs and has a mix of soulful wailing guitar
and longing well in tune for an album full of first rate material. The slight
barroom tint from the track’s piano never goes too far; another defining
musical characteristic of the release is how well Honey uses piano on many
tracks.
The
title song is another example of the piano being turned to good use. It never
exerts an omnipresent sound in the mix but, instead, helps accentuate the
lyric’s dramatic qualities. Honey digs deep into the words, a look back on
youth from the vantage point of many years later, and they avoid any
sentimentality that might otherwise drag the tune down. She shows her penchant
for sharp characterizations with the track “Honey” and the sultry physicality
of the arrangement helps give further life to the track. Honey’s vocal is among
the album’s best and she has obvious fun drawing a picture for listeners.
YOU
TUBE CHANNEL: https://www.youtube.com/user/FrancineLeclair
“Shacked-Up
Sweetie” is a glorious blast of honky tonk with gritty snap in the guitar work
and an appealing bluesy yet commercial sound. Some singers in this style might
overdo the vocal for a song like this, believing the audience expects a female
singer to belt this type of track out in dramatic fashion, but Honey’s vocal
hangs back and focuses on getting the lyric over with listeners while also
blending well with the band. The video released with this song, a single
release as well, complements the track very nicely without ever trying to
obscure its impact. It’s filmed with great professionalism and excellent
composition; moreover, it never relies too much on the histrionics common to
songs and videos of this type.
One
of my favorite moments arrives with the song “Space”. It’s another of the
beautifully rendered musical landscapes included on To Be
Continued… but, likewise, shows how Honey’s songwriting often
reaches far beyond the self-imposed limits of much in modern songwriting. It’s
another song about relationships, in this case the aftermath of one, but has an
unique point of view in the way it details the narrator’s need for time to heal
and reconsider things. The acoustic guitar and piano driven duet of “Marilyn”
musically sustains a well written tribute to the affect a long dead movie star
exerted over a young girl and woman. The dialogue between those aforementioned
instruments is well represented in the mix and Honey’s voice underlines the
ghostly quality of the song. It’s one of the most memorable entries on an album
that seems destined to stand the test of time; Francine Honey’s To Be
Considered… definitely deserves consideration as a fully
realized work illustrating her growing maturity as an artist and entertainer.
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