This isn’t your parents Tomato/Tomato. By now the Saint John folk duo should be familiar to most Atlantic Canadians, and after today’s release of their new album, Canary In A Coal Mine, we expect they’re going to be familiar to a lot more. The album is a massive step forward for the band, both lyrically and sonically, with the band putting on a fresh edge with a big sound.
Stepping out of the comfort of their own Porchlight Studios in Grand Bay, Tomato/Tomato headed south to work with Jon Estes at The Bomb Shelter in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the studio that has famously worked with bands like Phosphorescent and Alabama Shakes to produce some amazing albums.
“The production on the Alabama Shakes record is a big reason why we went to the Bomb Shelter,” said Lisa McLaggan.
Something definitely rubbed off. The sound and image of the quaint folk duo aren’t entirely stripped away from the band on this album, you can still recognize the bones if you know where to look, but built on this framework is now this fully fleshed band with some teeth and a horn section.
Leading off with four previously released singles, (“Take It On The Road,” “Gotta Get Up,” “Kite Song,” and their cover of A-Ha’s “Take On Me“) we revisit some familiar themes for the band. There’s the usual songs about performing and touring with your partner that can safely be expected from a band consisting or a married couple who perform and tour together that are Tomato/Tomato’s bread and butter (now featuring the aforementioned horn section).
We veer off almost immediately as the family friendly darlings show their political side for a change with “Gotta Get Up.” Give the last couple years we’ve all experienced it’s unsurprising that the band have some political leanings, but from the family-friendly Tomatoes this is their equivalent of a full-out protest song.
Even more surprising is their song “You Don’t Know Anything,” both for its subject matter from band who have so far been a perpetual source of sunshine and rainbows, and for the song’s uncharacteristic raw edge. It’s a new sound that looks very good on the band and best captures that Alabama Shakes energy.
“It’s definitely a side of me that most people haven’t heard,” explained Lisa. “The song is about me leaving my abusive ex-boyfriend, with whom I was living when John and I met. He saw me through getting out. It was dangerous and scary. Having survived an abusive relationship is something I’ve always been very open about, but it was never relevant to our music so I didn’t really discuss it publicly. I think especially now, it’s very important to talk about it. All of it.”
Easily the album’s standout track, the version we’re hearing was almost a fluke.
“That vocal was taken live, right off the floor, with the band. I had no idea it would end up on the record and my intention was to re-record it. I was just singing so the band had something to play with! But once I heard that drum groove off the top…. holy. I was right into it,” said Lisa.
“And it was something we couldn’t go back and recreate later. John’s dad and Lucy were literally sitting next to me on the couch and the mic was set up in the control booth so the engineer was in there too. I guess it’s lucky nobody sneezed!”
The band return to business as usual with some more commonplace domestic woes on “Everybody’s Hurtin’,” with the benefit of Spencer Callum’s pedal steel. It’s a midpoint lull in the album that might be offering a commentary on the state of the music or the world at large. While it holds a place of distinction as the quietest track on the album it may prove to have the longest staying power.
Taking another surprising turn, Tomato/Tomato have included an appropriate cover from another Canadian band that found themselves down south with their own faithful version of The Band’s “Ophelia.”
Closing out the album with the very fun “Sun Moon Stars and Rain” and far more subdued “Nothing Left,” the band end on a couple of notes that showcase the strengths of this new album: their quiet moments are big ones, and their big moments are even bigger. To put it in the terms of Spinal Tap’s Nigel Tufnel, Tomato/Tomato have taken Canary In A Coal Mine to an 11. It marks a new era for the band that will expect will propel them from regional darlings to headliners.
They haven’t slowed down either. Tomato/Tomato might be off for a tour of Australia next month and they’ve already got fresh material in the works.
“We’re already working on recording demos of new songs and I’ve hardly seen [John] in a couple of weeks because he’s in studio-mode,” said Lisa. “There are days where he’ll get to the studio first thing in the morning, come in for lunch, and then I won’t see him until he comes to bed! And his hair is all messed up and his eyes are all buggy.”
You can catch Tomato/Tomato today for a pop-up album release show at Saint John’s Heartbreak Boutique at 1pm!
Tour Dates:
03.08-11.19 – Port Fairy, VIC, AUS @ Port Fairy Folk Festival
03.13.19 – Brunswick, VIC, AUS @ Spotted Mallard
03.14.19 – Oakleigh South, VIC, AUS @ Caravan Music Club
03.15-17.19 – Katoomba, NSW, AUS @ Blue Mountains Folk Festival
03.20.19 – Gold Coast, QLD, AUS @ Soundlounge
03.21.19 – Marrickville, NSW, AUS @ Django @ Camelot