Kellie Loder’s third and most recent album, Benefit of the Doubt, is experiencing no shortage of praise. Loder combines the genres of folk and pop on Benefit of the Doubt to deliver common sense and conventional wisdoms in a way that’s produced on a grand scale. The album has the sound of an award winner and the already JUNO-nominated musician has recently been nominated for a slew of MusicNL awards for her album, including The Anchor Inn Female Artist of the Year, Pop Artist of the Year, and the Ron Hynes SOCAN Songwriter of the Year.
Loder’s abilities as a songwriter are abundant and apparent, but to borrow a phrase: “we’ve got some cowboys up in here.” Working with producers Ian Foster (Kat McLevey and Melanie O’Brien), Justin Gray (98 Degrees, John Legend, Nicki Minaj) and Daniel Adam, it’s as though they they’ve taken turns out-doing each other until Benefit of the Doubt received several coats of high-gloss polish.
No doubt the results are just the sort of thing music associations, awarding bodies, and commercial radio all want to hear. It is a very shiny product with all kinds of names attached to it, after all.
Which isn’t to say that it doesn’t work. The album is bookended by powerful anthems like “Telescope” and “Butterfly” that break out the big guns with wonderful effectiveness. It comes as a contrast to songs like “Molded Like A Monster” and “Playground,” both of which obviously have beautiful bones to them. There’s a folky sentimentality where Loder’s songwriting prowess shines through.
At their core, the songs are sweet, and vulnerable, and touching. Loder sings of our collective cares and worries; the inherent rights of mutual respect, and the fear of being forced into boxes with imposed labels. She sings them beautifully.
But then again, this a pop album, and those themes are repeated ad nauseam with reverb soaked choruses. The album leans into the hard side of production with a result more akin to Jenn Grant than some classic Willie Stratton, and those little universal truths get played out larger than life.
As much as we can appreciate Kellie Loder’s talents, and as likely as Benefit of the Doubt is to bring her accolades, we have to wonder if Loder is being ironic or self-aware as she sings, “I am wondering, is there anyone out there, anyone like me?” Whether the album was intended as one of self-discovery, or the temptation of commercial success, the pop veneer it received is a little heavy-handed for something that might have benefitted more from the organic qualities of some genuine folk music.