With something like 10 releases in the last 11 years, the prolific pace at which Toronto rocker Hawksley Workman releases music is akin to Neil Young. And like Neil Young, not all of Workman’s albums are classic, but they’re always interesting. Meat is the first of two albums he’ll put out this year. (Milk is currently being released digitally one song at a time, with a full release scheduled for next month.) On Meat, a break-up album broken into two sides, Workman shows his range, from the glammed-out rock fans of 2003’s Lover/Fighter will be familiar with, to introspective ballads similar to those on 2006’s Treeful of Starling. Standout tracks include Song for Sarah Jane, a mournful piano-based piece, and You Don’t Just Want to Break Me (You Want to Tear Me Apart), which builds from a low-key, introspective beginning into a full-on, fuzzed-out, gospel-inspired rocker. See Workman this Saturday, March 20 at the Burton Cummings Theatre.

Published in Volume 64, Number 23 of The Uniter (March 18, 2010)