Dallas Green is a man of great experience. A founding member of post-hardcore legends Alexisonfire and performing under the moniker City And Colour since 2005, he has a spectacular catalogue of work to his name. But in a career that has entered its third decade, he has likely not known a year quite so tragic as 2019. Losing two close, crucial figures in his life and separating from his wife may seem impossible to come back from, but he’s directed the sorrow and heartache into his stunning seventh solo outing, ‘The Love Still Held Me Near’.
When he announced the album at the start of the year, he said, “It’s about digging deep down into yourself and attempting to unearth hope and light in the things that can comfort you through those times.” As a result, ‘The Love Still Held Me Near’ hears Green question and confront his beliefs; opening song and lead single ‘Meant To Be’ references this almost instantly. “The last thing on my mind was my faith,” he sings in a song about the death of his long-time producer and engineer Karl Bareham. But throughout the album, Green reveals that he does still think that he can heal, and his defiance in the face of personal adversity comes to a head on album closer ‘Begin Again’. The album is a story of philosophical and therapeutic means – his own personal journey through grief being the very thing that helped him to heal – which is a lesson he now shares with us, like his very heart laid bare for all to see.
With such a raw spine to ‘The Love Still Held Me Near’, City And Colour has adopted a new no-holds-barred approach, which is best demonstrated by ‘Fucked It Up’. As well as being painfully honest and incredibly open, the song is one of the noisiest Green has recorded away from Alexisonfire. Fingers sliding on strings, hands on guitar necks and vocals higher in the mix than ever before, this comes pretty close to sounding like a live performance. Those blemishes and realities only add to the transparency and humility that this record is teeming with, making it feel more human, more relatable and more alive.
The production value of ‘The Love Still Held Me Near’ has also seen a big step up. Whereas older works like ‘Bring Me Your Love’ and ‘Sometimes’ sounded fuzzy or faded, this is a rich and vibrant album that sounds full-bodied at every turn. Whether it’s the big choruses of ‘Hard, Hard Time’ or the softer, more delicate moments of ‘Things We Choose To Care About’, the tone is like a warm embrace, the resonance wrapping around you as if you’re in the room with Green and his ever revolving band – this time comprising guitarist John Sponarski, bassist Erik Nielsen and drummer Leon Power.
‘Bow Down To Love’ acts as the album’s centre-piece, both in scope and quality. At over six minutes, it’s the longest track on the record and serves as a rallying cry for love, tolerance and equality. “If I could gather up all the hate / light a match and burn it all away / then with compassion in my voice / I would sing this song and hope that we might find a better way” are the words of a man sick of the torrid world around him, and a sentiment that most people will welcome and adopt. Green’s voice soars with intense passion and crackles with disdainful sadness in equal measure, highlighting the power and captivating timbre of his unmistakable vocals. It’s a glorious, moving number that ends in a breath-taking, wailed crescendo and is a sublime exercise in song building from a true modern master of the craft.
They say “write what you know” and if this is the result of knowing heartbreak and devastation, then it’s very sound advice indeed. ‘The Love Still Held Me Near’ proves once again what a crucial and complete singer-songwriter Dallas Green is. By far his most raw and vulnerable work to date, it also stands to be City And Colour’s most powerful and impressive, too.
JACK TERRY
