Calvin Love’s New Record Is Nostalgic and Lonesome in All the Right Ways
Members choose #calvinlove to get his new album “Highway Dancer” on a VNYL Exclusive Coke Bottle Clear
Who Is He?
This existential, soul-searching songsmith hails from Alberta, Canada — the same hometown as indie-pop connoisseurs such as Mac DeMarco, TOPS, and Sean Nicholas Savage. He’s been immersed in the music scene ever since he was a teenager and played in a punk band. Years later he’s shifted into lonely indie pop on his newest album Highway Dancer. Though his style has evolved over the course of his three full-lengths and several EPs, his lyrics and show-stopping voice have carved out a beautiful little nook for themselves amidst the chaotic frenzy of indie rock.
From what I’ve learned about Calvin, he is a self-starter who believes in art for art’s sake. He has spent hours upon hours creating and producing his own music, and then has spent years on tour sharing that music with the world. He garners inspiration from all around him and is able to turn the world’s mundanities into nostalgic pop songs that sound at once so familiar and so unique.
You’ll Like If You Enjoy:
My Take
If you ask anyone that knows me, or knows my taste in music rather, most will tell you that I am stuck in the past. I can’t seem to stop obsessing over all of the artists whose hey-deys were decades ago. This is probably why I am so drawn to Calvin Love. He fits perfectly with both my eclectic weirdness and my ever-nostalgic-for-what-I-never-witnessed mindset. Highway Dancer is not any one thing. It shifts from 80s sounding songs of triumph that are reminiscent of greats like Bruce Springsteen, to dark and lonely ballads that almost sound like they could be part of a Patti Smith spoken word set. This album is overall a bit slower and darker than his other releases, and it suits him. His voice is deep and effective in times of loneliness or pain. I appreciate his dedication to artistic honesty — he is not abiding to what the rest of the pop scene is telling him to do. He is doing him. And we can all learn something from that.
Favorite Tracks:
“No Goodbyes”- Just from the first familiar strums of the guitar I knew I liked this one. It’s got the body of a Bob Dylan song and the distinctive voice of Calvin Love takin’ you through it.
“Dreams Keep Callin”- Listen to this and tell me it doesn’t sound like Bruce. I’ll wait.
VNYL members can self-select #calvinlove as 1 of their 3 vinyl records this month. Click here to join.
