[News] THE ONCE ANNOUNCE 21 DATE AUSTRALIAN TOUR

Over the past seven years, The Once have been quietly making a name for themselves in their home country Canada collecting a trio of Canadian Folk Music Awards, being named Newfoundland & Labrador Art Council’s Artist of the Year and earning a Juno nomination for best Roots/Traditional album. Now they’re on their way to Australia again after first gracing our shores in 2014 supporting Passenger.

In late 2014, the trio (Geraldine Hollett, Andrew Dale and Phil Churchill) released Departures – their first album on Nettwerk Records. Departures proves to be a fitting title for this album as themselves often touch upon a sense of departure – whether it is in a poignant tribute to someone who has died (‘The Town Where You Lived’), a vivid tale of murder (‘The Nameless Murderess’), a song to a loved one left behind (the on-the-road love letter ‘All The Hours’) or a tune about leaving someone (the breakup ode ‘Fool For You’). Although the songs come from different band members, the shared lyrical themes isn’t surprising since the three, as Churchill notes, have spent many years together, traveling in the same small van and going through similar life experiences. The Once also operate very much as a democratic, collaborative unit so that everyone contributes to each others’ tunes.

Long-time fans of The Once will notice an increase of the band’s songwriting credits on Departures. Their previous albums were populated mainly with traditional folk songs or reworked tunes by Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, Queen and the Strawbs. The new record, in their own estimations, holds more originals than on their other ones combined. Hollett says that the new album reflects the group “feeling more confident to do what we want.” Dale also feels that they threw their “trepidations out the window” on this recording. Departures represents The Once’s most honest and personal effort to date, with songs ranging from Dale’s admittedly sappy love song to his fiancée ‘You Lead I Will Follow’ to ‘The Town Where You Lived’, a tune that Churchill wrote for his father who died over a dozen years earlier. Churchill admits that he hasn’t been able to talk to even his friends about his dad’s death before writing this song.

Despite the many changes, The Once remains rooted in its essential musical elements – Hollett’s incandescent voice, the trio’s gorgeous harmonies and the spirited acoustic instrumentation supplied by Dale and Churchill. Both talented, versatile players, Dale and Churchill utilize guitars, mandolins, banjos and even a bouzouki to build a rich musical tapestry. Although the band has come out of Newfoundland’s Celtic-inspired traditional music community, they draw upon a range of influences that’s best exemplified by their genre-spanning cover selections. On the new disc, they tackle the Newfoundland standard ‘Sonny’s Dream’ along with an enchanting rendition of Elvis Presley hit ‘Can’t Help Falling In Love’. Churchill believes that, on Departures, the group has woven these various musical strands together more naturally and cohesively than ever before. Even the rousing, horn-punctuated arrangement they give ‘The Nameless Murderess’, which evokes the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Tom Waits and even a touch of Bertolt Brecht, still feels organically tied to the other songs.

THE ONCE AUSTRALIAN TOUR