Clocking in at almost an hour and with 16 tracks, the latest from Flin Flon born/Ottawa resident C.C. Trubiak is precious (“Blue”), gentle (“Broken Morning”) and hopeful (“All I Need”) but it holds too many rough ideas, with many of the songs sitting around the one minute mark. Other songs (the catchy as heck “Illusions”) just go on too long, especially sitting at the end. With mostly acoustic guitars and banjos, the disc is fleshed out by the odd accordion and harmonium, but the songs do blur together, creating a folk blast that the Folk Fest crowd might adore, but on disc the songs suffer from their preciousness. Something tells me these compositions are meant to be experienced in person, not through earbuds.

Published in Volume 68, Number 17 of The Uniter (January 22, 2014)