Ocie Elliott – In That Room
Nettwerk Records – Out Now
Although it’s difficult to concisely articulate, in terms of Vancouver Island indie roots music, there’s a definite sound and loose scene-with-no-name of bands and artists strongly influenced by the Island’s awesome landscapes, as well as its beach and surf culture. Bands such as Current Swell and (named after an Island forest) Carmanah typify this largely acoustic, tie dye-rinsed sound. To assist in understanding this, non-Canadians embraced by fans of these acts would include the ilk of Aussies Kim Churchill and Xavier Rudd, or laidback mainstream American artists like Jack Johnson and Donavon Frankenreiter. However, to my ears, the best of the local bunch is Victoria’s excellent Jon & Roy, who bear a perceptible reggae influence permeating their acoustic West Coast groove. The Jon in question is Jon Middleton, a prolific and richly talented songwriter also blessed with an appealing soft, rust-edged voice. Having released their 8th album, Here, last year, Jon & Roy are still very much a going concern, but since 2017 Middleton has also been involved in another project, the folk duo Ocie Elliott.
Middleton’s partner in Ocie Elliott is the similarly skilled, Victoria-based singer-musician, visual artist and model, Sierra Lundy (who on her Soundcloud page has turned in tender solo covers of songs by The National, Lord Huron, Irma Thomas and others). The pair met by good fortune on Salt Spring Island, immediately striking up a personal and creatively fruitful meeting of minds that quickly led to a 5-song EP, dazzlingly entitled EP, to launch themselves in October 2017. The 7-track EP We Fall In followed last year, and now for 2020, we have another 7-tracker, the unintentionally topically named In That Room. As with its predecessors, with the odd exception, the new EP is achingly beautiful minor chord melancholia all the way. That’s Ocie Elliott’s thing in a nutshell.
Although not necessarily purely from a harmonizing perspective, if ever two voices were meant to be heard together it is Middleton’s and Lundy’s. While the former possesses the aforementioned lovely rasp, Lundy’s strong, yet breathy delivery could be compared to Cowboy Junkies’ Margo Timmins or Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval. It’s a perfect combination of complementary vocal tones, both fragile and powerful at once.
Like We Fall In, the new EP was recorded in Maple Ridge, an hour from downtown Vancouver, at Protection Island (not to be confused with the actual Protection Island, just offshore of Nanaimo). Andy Shauf, Twin Bandit and many more have recorded in the same studio, which is owned and run by producer Jonathan Anderson (Jonathan Inc. / Radiogram). He and Middleton enjoy an ongoing creative collaboration, with both solo and Jon & Roy projects having been recorded there down the years.
Understandably compared in quality, approach and sonic atmospherics to Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Simon & Garfunkel, Angus & Julia Stone and Milk Carton Kids, if Ocie Elliott continue to produce material as gorgeous as their flawless output to date it’s just a matter of time before they’re widely regarded as rightfully belonging to the upper echelon of timeless folk duos, alongside the greats. Truly lovely stuff.
Photo Credit: Sara Laking