„When The Magic Hits“ ist das Debüt-Album des kanadischen Roots-Rock-Musikers Adrian Sutherland.
Adrian Sutherland stammt aus der Attawapiskat First Nation an der James Bay, Nordkanada.
Er ist Sänger, Songwriter, Musiker, Redner und Fürsprecher sowie Frontmann und Gründer der kanadischen Indie-Folk-Rock-Band Midnight Shine. Er ist auch Vater von vier Kindern, ein traditioneller Wissensbewahrer und angesehener Kulturführer, der fließend Mushkegowuk Cree (seine indigene Sprache) spricht.
Adrian Sutherland schreibt sein erstes Buch für Penguin Random House Canada über das Aufwachsen in Attawapiskat, einem sehr abgelegenen und manchmal rauen Ort, den er immer noch als Zuhause bezeichnet. Nachdem Adrian während der Pandemie notgedrungen sein eigenes Aufnahmestudio in einem Schiffscontainer gebaut hatte, beendete er die Arbeit an seiner ersten Fernsehserie und nahm die Tracks für sein Debütalbum als Solo-Künstler auf.
Nach drei Alben mit Midnight Shine schien 2019 die Zeit gekommen für sein erstes Soloprojekt.
Seine Debütsingle „Politician Man“, ein Protestsong für Kanada, erreichte Platz 1 des Indigenous Music Countdown. Außerdem gewann er den Golden Sheaf Award for Best Performing Arts & Entertainment bei Kanadas ältestem Film Festival. Mit seiner Single „Respect the Gift“ debütierte er Anfang 2021 in der „Strombo Show“ in Kanada und im American Songwriter Magazine in den USA und erreichte im Mai Platz 1 der heimischen Radiocharts.
Adrian kümmert sich sehr um viele Anliegen und setzt seine Stimme ein, um auf Probleme der First Nations wie kontaminiertes Wasser, Wohnungsnot, Armut und gesundheitliche Sorgen aufmerksam zu machen.
Hier noch ein paar persönliche Aussagen von Adrian Sutherland selbst über die einzelnen Songs des Albums:
01 – Big City Dreams
„This is song is about coming to terms with things from the past, even if it is going to make you uncomfortable. We all have demons that we must face, and fight. This song is about overcoming the demons, facing the truth, and sorting through it…“
02 – Paranoia
„We all have demons that we must face, and fight. This song is about overcoming the demons, facing the truth, and sorting through it…“
03 – Magic Hits
„Magic Hits is such a beautiful song, I just love the melody, and how it came together musically. It’s about wanting something really bad, and working really hard for it, but yet it still remains just out of reach. That’s how I feel about my music career – I have been working hard at it for over ten years now, and it hasn’t come to fruition yet. But it feels like it’s just around the corner now, and I hope it is…“
04 – Once That Was You
„Once That Was You is about longing for something or someone who touched your heart deeply. I wrote this song with Jay Semko at the start of the very start of the pandemic, while everything was shutting down by the minute. It felt like the end of the world, that’s how we were both feeling – that line actually opens the song. It’s definitely a ballad, probably the first real ballad I’ve ever written. Jay writes from a place of deep emotion, and that approach was at the heart of our writing session…“
05 – Nowhere To Run
„This is probably the most personal song on the album. I wrote it several years ago, and wasn’t able to finish it until now. My mother was a survivor of Residential School and a victim of violence. When I was a boy, I often feared that she wouldn’t come home at night, that she would just disappear and be gone forever. As the oldest son, I felt that it was my place to protect her. Although she had a hard life, she still managed to raise a family of eight. I thought of her life and those feelings as I put pen to paper…“
06 – Scared
“Everything in the world today seems messed up and scary at times. It’s hard to see ahead, and to feel hopeful, when your eyes are full of tears. Where is all the love gone to? There’s no question, the world needs more love…”
07 – Right Here
„Right Here is a song about always being there for the people that you love and care about, especially when times are tough. And vice versa – having the people that you love and care about being there for you when you need them most…“
08 – Walk With Me
„This is such a powerful song, and one of my favourites. I loved writing it with Serena! When we got together back in 2019, we discovered we both had a similar song idea, and it grew from there. The song is about going on a journey together, and sharing the same path, even if you both come from different places. With Reconciliation in the forefront again, it’s more important now than ever before that we take time to walk with each other, and to be willing to see the world through the eyes of another. This song also pays tribute to my grandparents and traditions of the past. They were named Moses and Juliette, and I sing about them and thought about them as I wrote this song…“
09 – Make Me Better
„I wrote this song for my wife Judy, and my family, who I miss dearly whenever I am away from home. Pursuing music is bittersweet for me, because I am ultimately doing it for my family, yet it takes me far away from them physically. The people that we love make us better. They make us feel whole, and without them we are not complete…“
Album „When the Magic Hits“
Vö: 17.9.2021
Label: Midnight Shine Music
Vertrieb: Timezone Distribution
Quelle: Greywood Records / Timezone
© Christian Behring im September 2021
