Eleanor Buckland – You Don’t Have to Know
Soundly Music – 29 October 2021
In the summer of 2018, I witnessed a fabulous festival set by Lula Wiles, a female folk-roots trio that had coalesced in Boston four years prior. Performing clustered around a single mic in traditional bluegrass style, the three women – Isa Burke, Mali Obomsawin, and Eleanor Buckland – displayed masterful musicianship and a feisty social consciousness both lyrically and in their stage banter. That latter aspect of Lula Wiles’ personae considered, it came as no shock that following their independently released eponymous 2016 debut, they signed to Smithsonian Folkways, the historical home for such legendary people’s music champions as Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, of course. The nonprofit concern has thus far issued two Lula Wiles albums, the latest being the politically charged Shame and Sedition from earlier this year. Augmented by drummer Sean Trischka, it saw a pronounced shift in their sound, away from pure folk and towards atmospheric, muscular roots-pop. Stepping out of Lula Wiles for her solo debut, Buckland, too, is exploring entirely new sonic territory, also suspending the political in lieu of singularly personal themes on You Don’t Have to Know.
Dwelling somewhere in a parenthetical range of indie rock and folk-pop – consider Kathleen Edwards as a stylistic starting point – it could be said that this 10-track collection came into being by chance, over time, rather than by design. Buckland was writing songs but without any particular destination in mind for them. It was her friend and fellow Berklee College of Music alum, the Toronto-based multi-instrumentalist, Adam Iredale-Gray (Aerialists / Fish & Bird), who coaxed the album out of Buckland, but when embarking upon writing and recording sessions, they were both uncertain as to whether their work would result in an EP, a full-length project, and even if they should view it as a Buckland solo venture or a duo release. Ultimately, although Iredale-Gray co-wrote eight of the ten tracks, he recognised that You Don’t Have to Know had to head out into the world under Buckland’s name. Concerning the personal candour of the lyrical content, it was a wise yet obvious decision.
The album title alone is indicative of the intimate nature of the themes Buckland reflects upon throughout its 40 minutes. It’s her reconciled conclusion to many questions stemming from her life’s uncertainties, but especially how do I do this, what do I want, and how can I figure this out…? Buckland has looked intensely inward to create these songs, spilling her guts in addressing periods of anxiety and depression, overwhelming feelings of helplessness, and the myriad complexities of relationships.
To bring Buckland’s songs to life, Iredale-Gray tapped into his extensive network of Canadian talent for a cross-border collaboration with the Maine born-and-raised Buckland. His two fellow core Aerialists, Elise Boeur and (the only non-Canuck) Màiri Chaimbeul, both contribute, the former with harmony vocals and the latter, while considered one of the world’s best Celtic harpists, here plays all manner of keyboards. Depending on their location and availability, Aerialists’ rhythm section is fluid (occasionally including Trischka), and it’s the Toronto representation of drummer Justin Ruppel (Suzie Ungerleider / Jadea Kelly) and bassist Charles James (King Creosote / Jim Cuddy) providing the backbone here. The increasingly visible guitarist/producer Sam Gleason (Charlotte Cornfield / Dana Gavanski / The Hidden Cameras) brings his six-strings skills to the table, while Omhouse bandleader/session multi-instrumentalist, Steven Foster (harmony vocals), saxophonist Edwin Sheard, and prolific session flautist Anh Phung (Twisted Pine / Harebrain) round out an impressive euphonious cadre. Finally, Iredale-Gray, who produced and played guitar on Lula Wiles’ debut, does likewise here, also adding harmony vocals and programming.
You Don’t Have to Know opens powerfully with the first single, Don’t Look Down. It was written on Mayne Island, BC, a verdant 8.1 sq mi dot in the southern Gulf Islands, and the West Coast location for one of Iredale-Gray’s two Fiddlehead Studios (the other being in Toronto). Buckland is full of worry – I thought I left my troubles back in the east / But I find them cowering behind me, the shadow of a beast – but she and Iredale-Gray have set the angst against an infectious pop melody with a surging beat and chiming guitars. As strange as it may sound, I’m reminded – melodically, rather than vocally – of the late Nanci Griffith, but as if backed by U2. The same is true of the propulsive second single, Static, another uptempo dazzler, to wit totally at odds with its title!
I’ve always enjoyed such happy-sad juxtaposition as presented in the opener, and it’s an approach that works consistently well on You Don’t Have to Know. However, in keeping with Buckland’s forthright soul-searching and vacillating self-doubt, as one might expect (or hope), it’s the more reflective balladic material that dominates proceedings. Of this style, October and the gorgeous Wishing is Useless are heavy-hearted stunners, the latter being the sparsest of this collection of lushly produced material.
As the slow-burning centrepiece and, at 5:22, the album’s longest track, it’s the truly epic Resignation that steals the show, though. Cavernous and dreamlike, commanded over by Chaimbeul’s twinkling keyboards and Iredale-Gray’s electric guitars operating almost, but not quite, at the very edge of distortion, it boasts the most spinetingling of all Buckland’s vocals and, among its rich lyrical imagery, a 2nd verse I can almost smell:
In the city, the rail lines screaming / Steel sky and red lights, gasoline stings and blurs / Frantic energy, toxic gleaming / In the dirty air of a greasy town, the asphalt sweats and burns.
I wonder where she’s singing about..? (It’s definitely not Mayne Island.)
The process of what eventually became this classy album began with the bare bones of three songs way back in February 2017, so it’s been quite some journey for Buckland, Iredale-Gray, and their supporting cast of collaborators – and now, here it is.
A woman of considerable wit and wisdom who herself endured much turmoil and sorrow in her private life, the writer Dorothy Parker (1893-1967) once said, “Art is a form of catharsis, emotional release, purging, cleansing, purifying,” and, other than being a fine album from a musical perspective, You Don’t Have to Know is a perfect example of what Parker meant by that. Especially in terms of Buckland rising above, casting out, and ultimately owning the dark emotions that fueled such soul-baring lyrics, to let go of it finally must be mightily empowering to her. As someone taken with her raw honesty and deft songcraft, I very much hope that’s the case.
You Don’t Have to Know is released digitally, on CD, and vinyl, on Soundly Music on October 29th.
Pre-Order via Bandcamp: https://eleanorbuckland.bandcamp.com/album/you-dont-have-to-know
Acoustic Version of October:
WEBSITE: https://www.eleanorbuckland.com/
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Photo Credit: Laura Partain