New Seasons

Canada’s Sadies play American alt.country with a soft-spoken determination that gives their tunes an understated elegance and a solid, no-nonsense approach that’s never compromised by freaky effects or sudden, inappropriate juxtapositions of sound. Credit ex-Jayhawk Gary Louris for his restraint; he captures the band as natural as can be. The group’s seventh studio album, 2007’s *New Seasons*, recalls major country-rock artists from the Byrds to the Long Ryders without sounding like them, but rather continuing in their grand tradition. “Anna Leigh” and “The Trial” immediately stand out as eerie narratives set amongst Western prairie motifs, as the spaghetti western / Duane Eddy guitar-styled leads take over from the tight and dry harmonies. “My Heart of Wood” again mines a dark, old country sound before “A Simple Aspiration” sends the group through the shimmering haze of psychedelia with its garage-rock inspired guitar leads and slightly lysergic-styled harmonies. To the very end, *New Seasons* keeps on chooglin’ with pleasant surprises (“Wolf Tones” is an atmospheric instrumental, “The Land Between” adds some striking guitar tones) that add subtle colors to this sepia-toned dust bowl world.

It's almost disorienting to imagine that a band as good as the Sadies can still find room to improve each time they go into the studio, but Canada's greatest contribution to Americana since Blue Rodeo have been consistently topping themselves with each new album, and their sixth, New Seasons, is another triumph. It should come as no surprise that the Sadies are in superb instrumental form here and demonstrating an effortless mastery of a range of different sounds and styles; "What's Left Behind" is a superb evocation of the late-period Byrds with guitar work that would make Clarence White envious, "The Trial" is a deeply atmospheric Southern gothic tale with just the right degree of ominous atmosphere, "A Simple Aspiration" could pass for a lost Paisley Underground classic with its subtly psychedelic guitar figures, "The Land Between" is simply gorgeous folk-rock, and the opening bluegrass breakdown makes you wish these guys had let listeners hear more than 48 seconds of it. But for a band that used to prefer playing instrumentals over approaching the vocal mike, brothers Dallas Good and Travis Good have learned to sing nearly as well as they play guitar, and their harmonies add another layer of beauty and mystery to their music. The group's songwriting continues to impress, with the heartbroken "Sunset to Dawn" and "The Trial" sounding uncannily like lost country classics and the two-part "The Last Inquisition" showing they know how to write a good scary guitar figure for themselves. While ex-Jayhawk Gary Louris helped produce New Seasons, precious little of his influence is audible here; the Sadies have created a powerful and evocative sound on their previous albums, and with New Seasons they've given that sound its ideal definition.

Dallas and Travis Good—the brothers who form the core of The Sadies—have never fallen prey to the neo-traditionalist trappings that hinder some alt-country artists. The Sadies are generally associated with alt-country, partly because they were on Bloodshot Records, but mostly because of their sound: It lived in the…

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Whatever street cred the Sadies currently have is partly due to the liner note inclusion from some of indie rock's more venerable acts.