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Timid, The Brave - Timid, The Brave (2012)

Timid, The Brave - Timid, The Brave (2012)

BAND/ARTIST: Timid, The Brave

Tracklist

01. Why Should I Stay?
02. Crowe River
03. Metal
04. My Wolves
05. Colors
06. What Are You Now?
07. Amazing Grace (Lament)
08. It's Alright

It’s been said many times before, but there really is something universal communicable through good folk music, and when it’s good enough to find its way into your heart and mess around with your emotions, the feeling is always fresh and special.
Hamilton, Ontario’s Tim Selles, recording solo as Timid, the Brave, has managed to pen a self- titled album of that type of folk. Released on Other Songs, Timid, the Brave is a strong, deeply honest album best enjoyed alone with one’s thoughts.
Mere months ago, Selles was a part of Hamilton- based folk band Bruekke. In fact, the two acts have similarly organic sounds, with acoustic guitars, banjos, and sweetly bowed strings pulling most of the weight. With Timid, the Brave, Selles makes two main distinctions from his old band. All but gone are the live vocal harmonies of Bruekke, replaced by a multiple tracks of Selles’ own smooth yet smoky tenor. The second distinction is the markedly gloomier tone of the songwriting; an optimistic song like Bruekke’s “The Brave” would look very much out-of-place on Timid, the Brave, despite titular similarities. Despite these conscious departures, a revised version of “My Wolves,” a track originally recorded with Bruekke, appears on the record; perhaps an obvious choice as it is among Bruekke’s sulkier songs.
The album is a definite brooder, and listening to it requires attention to detail for it to take full effect. The lyrics are deeply introspective, with Selles’ emotional honesty consistently palpable throughout the album. His subject matter fixates primarily on love and the despondency that its absence can bring. The album deals with finding a place to fit into the world as well; on “My Wolves” he croons “they say to find freedom, you just head west / but I was born there, it’s not so fresh.” Knowing Selles grew up in Lethbridge, AB and moved east, the song takes on a much more literal, personal tenor.
Each song is emotionally loaded, but the album’s strength comes in not lingering on the same emotions for too long. You can dig into each track and unpack a different sort of melancholy every time, often more pensive than genuinely sad. The subtle instrumentation reinforces the lyrical contemplation beautifully, with hushed strings creeping in to craft impressive tension in “Amazing Grace (Lament)” without ever announcing its presence. Comparison could be drawn between this record and Horse Feathers for their potent emotiveness or I Am Oak for their understated yet powerful instrumentals. Still, the strength and raw intimacy of Timid, the Brave’s songwriting makes comparison seem unfair. One of the best single lines on the album for its striking honesty is “you were grape juice in church pews” from “What Are You Now?” It’s a muddy metaphor coming off as being intensely personal, leaving the listener to wonder what Selles could possibly be lamenting. Timid, the Brave is full of these moments of beautiful incomprehension adding up to a much clearer message when considering the album as a whole. All things considered, this is a respectable solo debut from Timid, the Brave, and we look forward to hearing more pastoral Americana (Canadiana?) from Mr. Selles.

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  • whiskers
  •  wrote in 12:59
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