4/5 stars
Montreal-based indie rock quartet, Fleece, has once again proven themselves to be a cornerstone of Canadian indie in their most recent release, TORNADO. Four years since their 2021 album Stunning & Atrocious, Fleece approaches TORNADO with a softer touch, turning their more raucous groove into something much more atmospheric.
Kicking off with “How Far Would You Go,” one of the album’s singles and by far one of its most versatile tracks, Matthew Rogers and Megan Ennenberg’s somber-yet-upbeat approach to lyricism takes root. A mantra in this song, “Nothing last forever, baby let’s try,” drives away any melancholy felt in the pre-chorus, shifting into a chorus that is hazily reminiscent of a disco groove.
This melancholic yet softly optimistic atmosphere carries itself into “This Can’t Be Goodbye,” a eulogy for lost friends — “Jesse relapsed and I cried / Hope he’s having fun tonight / Izzy took her life, my god / Wish I told you that you’re loved” — driven by a simpler drum machine-style beat. It is here that the softer reflections of this album are felt and are brought across the tracks “Indecisive Little Mess,” “Where’s My Beach Hat” and “Come Waste Your Time.”
At this point in the album, Fleece takes a pause and fully leans into its musical skills with “206A Interlude” — something that leans into a jazzier improvisation while maintaining the ambient indie feel Fleece has been known for since inception (even in jest, with the band’s viral 2015 YouTube video “how to write an Alt-J song”). This interlude bridges into the more classic pop sounds of “It’s The Life” and gets harder with lead single “Take Off All Your Honey” before settling into “Chequebook, a punchy deviation from the generally soft atmosphere thus far.
Ennenberg’s vocals on “Chequebook” lend the track a feeling distinct from TORNADO’s general pensiveness created by Rogers. Held alongside the direct confrontation of the lyrics, the song challenges generational wealth —“Do you even know / what your daddy does? He’s got money made / Everyone could eat / but he keeps it all / for himself, oh no.” Ennenberg drives the point home simply in the chorus’ refrain, “Gimme all your money, honey! / Never call me honey, honey!” While “Chequebook” is a deviation from Fleece’s regular musical stylings, it is a deviation they do well.
TORNADO winds itself down through “Take It From Me.” While it is an energetic track, it still returns to the atmospheric pop Fleece is best known for. The album cycles itself back into retrospection through “Ghost On My Tongue” and “So Much Better Now,” the latter of which gently rolls the album back around into the first track.
Despite its positive qualities, TORNADO is not Fleece’s strongest album. It showcases exactly what the band can do, but the sadness-dappled-with-dance atmosphere laid out by most of the album can overpower standout tracks in a thorough listen of the whole album. A cohesive listen, TORNADO is a journey through Fleece’s sonic ability — it’s just a journey that takes a little longer to get there.
