There is the commonly held belief that Aretha Franklin could sing the phone book and still steal your heart. Listening to Bruce Cockburn’s new album “Small Source of Comfort” I was struck with the thought that he could write a song about the phone book and it would still be interesting. Then again, this is Mr Cockburn’s 31st album so you would expect him to have learned a trick or two.
Melody and rhythm feature strongly in his musical repertoire (and no small amount of lyrical intelligence as well). Fortunately, he hasn’t lost his sense of humour with the passing years as the quirky “Call Me Rose” demonstrates. However, maturity has its benefits too and his prowess on the guitar reflects this with instrumentals like “Bohemian 3-Step” having all the style of a sharp dressed man. You might well have guessed by now that Mr Cockburn doesn’t really put a foot wrong here but there still has to be a highlight, doesn’t there? I think so and that highlight is the sinuous “Boundless” that sounds like it should be a film.
With Colin Linden in the producer’s chair and John Whynot doing the mixing, these albums sounds as good as it is. At the risk of offending Mr Cockburn, “Small Source of Comfort” is positive proof that you can’t keep an old dog down.