Put in any Cowboy Junkies album and you’ll hear the same conversations. Characters are often found questioning themselves, their lovers, and a world that has defied odds, leaving them with more questions than answers. Simply put, there are not many guarantees found on a Junkies album; rather, there are plenty of common disasters, dark holes (again), and murders in trailer parks. Fortunately for this Canadian band, Michael Timmins, the man writing the lyrics, is good enough of a songwriter to make this kind of subject matter seem fresh and worthwhile to the listener every two or three years. Picking up where 2001’s Open left off, One Soul Now, the band’s latest release, isn’t afraid to tackle an ordinary life and turn it upside down.
Once again, Timmins’ stories are well told by the voice of his sister, Margo Timmins, who, as always, is able to sell his words with confidence and passion. As she pleads to "abandon all those precious things" on the album-opening title track, her soothing voice leads us through a batch of sometimes bluesy, sometimes rockin’ songs that focus on relationships—ones that switch between parents and their children ("My Wild Child"), a pair of lovers ("Why This One, "He Will Call You Baby," and "Notes Falling Slow"), and uncommon generations ("From Hunting Ground To City"). The album’s closing song, "The Slide," seems to tie all of these relationships together, recognizing the good and bad moments, and enforcing the main theme of the album—that we are all interconnected. And not only is "The Slide" the best of the ten songs, it also strikes me as one of the better closing songs on an album in quite a while.
Also finding room on the disc is "The Stars of Our Stars," a pop/rock tune that lets the band and the listener have a little fun, celebrating the things that are certain in our lives. Although it seems somewhat out of place on an album that asks so many serious questions, maybe that’s the point of the song and the album—to provide a narrow glimpse of hope through all the turmoil. In any case, One Soul Now is another fine effort from the Cowboy Junkies, no matter what kind of mood you are in.
