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The Simple Charms of Jessica Bundy’s Careless Smile

Jessica Bundy – Careless Smile (2014).

Singer/songwriter Jessica Bundy is a Toronto-based folk artist who renders heartfelt tracks of love and loss over jovial acoustics. This past year Bundy has been busy touring her debut EP, Careless Smile, across the west coast of the United States as well as several Canadian venues.

The EP is a stream of honest and experienced lyricism, which is no easy feat for a young up-and-coming artist. The whimsical tones of Careless Smile are accompanied by surprisingly profound lyrical content, as heard on “My Body Instead”. Jessica Bundy’s stripped down simplicity throughout the EP has concreted her breezy signature style, which she carries on and off stage.

Her seemingly effortless musical talents were instilled in her at a young age. As the daughter of a concert pianist, Bundy recalls growing up in a world of extracurricular choirs. The beginnings of her promising career as a songwriter took off when she received a secondhand guitar in her early teens. Later, while pursuing her master’s degree at York University, Bundy took a fateful leap into an active pursuit of her musical career

Jessica Bundy. Photo by Derek Mok.

Despite the blissful sounds that emit from Bundy’s easy-going vibrations, her journey as an artist has not always been bright and carefree. Tragedy overcame the artist with the sudden death of her beloved younger sister. Bundy reflects that the loss inspired a wealth of emotions that she filtered into her creative work. Jessica Bundy has undoubtedly found her footing as an artist and the consistent ease of Careless Smile guarantees her a prime player on your summer soundtrack.

Keep an eye out for Jessica Bundy on June 21st for her return to the Junction Musical Festival stage in Toronto!

Check out Jessica Bundy!

Author: Kaity D’Agostino

Tags: 2014, Canadian Content Machine, Canadian Singers, Careless Smile, Jessica Bundy, Junction Musical Festival, Kaity D'Agostino, My Body Instead, Review, Toronto

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Categories Acoustic, Canadian Content, Folk, New Album, New Artist, Singer-Songwriters, Toronto

The Darling Sounds of CLementine

12 May

CLementine – Kimberly ’93 (2012).

One of the most beautiful and compelling albums that I’ve had the pleasure of listening to lately comes from CLementine, a Montreal-based band composed of Nathan Daniels (vocals, guitar) and Chloe Buchskins (drums, samples, atmosphere). CLementine’s latest album, Kimberly ’93, mixes stripped-down, acoustic folk-rock with experimental soundscapes and nostalgic storytelling of love and loss.

It could be argued that folk songs about heartbreak and love aren’t exactly a unique idea, but it’s the way the tracks come together on this album that make them stand out from the rest. The band themselves stated it best by describing Kimberly ’93 as such:

“This record is about love and love lost told through the eyes of a young girl (Kimberly) from Utah. Her story is delivered in three ways; the record itself: 7 songs running at 51 minutes chock-full of layered samples and a thick atmosphere throughout. The track list is hidden in a short story to give further description and a short film projected live to visually support her tale.”

Nathan Daniels of CLementine. Photo Credit: Chloe Cavis.

The songwriting on the album is top-notch, which allows you to become completely immersed in the stories being conveyed, and the vocals, while a bit rough around the edges, have a lot of raw emotion behind them, which definitely works in their favor. This is the type of album that you want to listen to when you can just sit back with a good pair of headphones and allow yourself to get lost in the music. Or perhaps while driving alone late at night. Either way, it is an album made for quiet times of introspection. I am really looking forward to hearing more of what Daniels and Butchskins have in store for us in the future.