With an Americana-based country feel and heavy folk and Southern influences, Nudie’s second solo album, ‘Everything’s Different in the Night’ combines quality songwriting and musicianship with rural Canadian sensibilities. Recorded in Peterborough, Ontario, ‘Everything’s Different’ provides an excellent listen, not only for country lovers, but also anyone willing to try something new.

While ‘Everything’s Different’ has the songs of sorrow and regret that are traditional of country music, Nudie is an artist who sings songs about life, not overblown dramatics, and even his most melancholy songs have a relatable, authentic feel. The main focus of the album is heartbreak and struggles with love, but Nudie doesn’t let that keep his album entirely somber, opening with the spirited track ‘It Ain’t Gonna Happen Today’, an upbeat and self-aware tale of putting off on fixing life’s many problems.

‘Everything’s Different’ is filled with plenty of energetic tellings of love, loss, and longing such as ‘Why’d Ya Do It’, or ‘If You Really Want Me To I’ll Go’, which combine Nudie’s fondness for heartbreak with the toe-tapping vigour that makes him so easy to love. From the catchy beat of ‘Hearts & Flowers’ to the Mariachi-influenced trumpeting in ‘I’ve Been Here Before’, Nudie makes romantic anguish far more spirited and enjoyable than you’d expect. That isn’t to say though that ‘Everything’s Different’ is lacking slower pieces either, with tracks like ‘I Had To Learn About Sheila The Hard Way’ completely capturing the regret and misery of an inevitable breakup through gentle melody and woeful vocals.

Though heartbreak is the cornerstone of ‘Everything’s Different’, Nudie’s love of travel also finds its way into many of his songs, with ‘Train, You Took My Baby’ and ‘Island Girls’ combining both in tales of relationships being tested when a lover goes out west for work. While the two songs have entirely different tones and outcomes, they resonate with the typical eastern Canadian dilemma of home and familiarity versus a chance at wealth, and are two of the most outstanding tracks on the album.

With ‘Everything’s Different’, Nudie has clearly had an opportunity not only to sit down and record some enjoyable songs, but also had the chance to collaborate with many talented artists. The album is full of such collaborations, and becomes all the better for it. Even less pronounced inclusions compliment Nudie’s songwriting and vocal prowess, such as the steel drum performance of Chris Altmann, who gets a shout out in ‘That’s All I’ve Got’, or Ryan Weber of the Weber Brothers’ trumpet performance on ‘I’ve Been Here Before’. The most notable collaboration on the album though would be the inclusion of Sylvie Smith of Evening Hymns in the charming duet, ‘Mr. Why’d You Come To Texas’, a fairly short track (clocking in at 2:20) that steals the spotlight completely as the most memorable track on an already outstanding album.

Nudie’s ‘Everything’s Different In The Night’ comes out on April 22nd. To purchase the album or to check his tour schedule, visit nudiemusic.com to find out more.