Calendar Pages is a new acoustic solo project of Kevin Clancy from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He recently released a self-titled three-song EP Calendar Pages and mentions, “I had always wanted to release solo, singer/songwriter style songs—like Julien Baker, Elliott Smith, etc.,—and this project is dedicated to that endeavor.”
The music to me felt very much influenced by pop punk, that's at least the feeling I got. It is very coming of age and the sort of self-reflection about pain and sadness that only seems appropriate coming from a young person. The EP is also very short with three songs and coming under twelve minutes. The first song is entitled “Nothingness” and you are greeted with a couple strummed chords and vocals. There were points where he sounded a bit like Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie. The song quickly changes and just basically he strums much harder and sings more aggressively. He emotes and laments dramatically about bad memories and the ephemeral nature of reality. This felt like the highlight. Up next is “Tribeca” and it is very similar to the first song. The lyrics are very depressing. There’s just no way around that aspect. He sings about nostalgia, unrequited love/obsession and salvation. Last up is “Suffocation” which is perhaps the most dismal yet in terms of the lyrics but enjoyed the vocal melody. Musically, there just isn’t much to latch onto. The chords are mostly major and minor and no other instruments create other melodies, percussive elements, dynamics etc. This release is more about storytelling which from my interpretation revolves around despair, depression and sadness. I think the minimalism worked in this case because the EP is only around twelve minutes. If this EP were longer lets say around twenty minutes I probably would have started to want some other accompaniment here and there for variation. I remember listening to Bright Eyes about twenty years ago now and really connecting with it. This music stems from a similar disconnect that some youth continue to have with themselves, others and their relationship to meaning. The music at its best often creates a distress signal to others listening that they are not alone. I thought this was solid effort and certainly points to an artist with a ton of potential. This EP is hopefully just a taste of what's to come and look forward to hearing more.
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