Exit Strategy Of The Soul

The Age

Thursday August 7, 2008

Mike Daly

Exit Strategy of the Soul

Ron Sexsmith

Yep Rock/Shock

5/5

For some singer/songwriters, the muse is a capricious companion. But Ron Sexsmith has no problems in that department. The calibre of his work has scarcely fluctuated over the albums he's recorded since 1995, including his ninth, the spiritually influenced Exit Strategy of the Soul. His understated, romantic ballads are a distillation of modern pop music's best interpreters, yet the sound remains uniquely Sexsmith. Exit Strategy producer Martin Terefe has opted for a shift in focus, augmenting Sexsmith's London-recorded piano/vocals (including a small backing band and vocal harmonies) with Cuban Joaquin Betancourt's horn and percussion arrangements. The melodic strands meld beautifully into a captivating fusion of gentle pop and jazzy, Latin-accented soul. I've been playing this album a lot and keep discovering fresh musical nuances, from the delicate instrumental prologue and epilogue of, respectively, Spiritude (with its wordless vocal) and Dawn Anna (a delightful string quartet arrangement) to the playful Brandy Alexander, written with Canadian compatriot Feist. Other highlights among the 14 tracks (short but sweet, at around 45 minutes) include the uplifting This is how I Know, its melancholy antithesis The Impossible World and the sunny, horn-caressed Music to my Ears. This is a gem of an album, with every facet polished to perfection. -- MIKE DALY

© 2008 The Age

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