Liam Corcoran, former vocalist of Charlottetown’s disbanded Two Hours Traffic, is giving listeners a taste of the many sides of his creativity with Giving Tree and Other Songs. As his third full-length solo album, this release has a duality of energies. While the first half of the album is fully acoustic and mellow, the second half kicks the volume up a notch and jumps across genres.
The opening track, which also serves as the album’s namesake, took its title from the classic Shell Silverstein book. Inspired by the book’s strong message about the importance and selflessness of family, the song turned into something of an ode to Corcoran’s home on PEI.
“My friend Nick Doneff gave me The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein when my wife and I had our second child,” says Corcoran. “I then started reading it to our older son each night. The book is brilliant. It made me think about the incredible sacrifices my parents made for my brother and I.
“It also made me think about my vision of ‘home,’ which of course has always been on PEI. I ended up writing the song ‘Giving Tree’ as a way to collect all of these thoughts; I see it as a letter of thanks to my mother, father, and the whole Island community in a way.”
The four tracks following “Giving Tree” carry its soft, stripped-down folk sound, featuring just Corcoran and his acoustic guitar. With no layered effects or sounds to hide behind, the emotions in these tracks are nearly tangible. Their softness invites listeners to notice the intricacies within the tones of the music.
The second half of the album picks up the pace and kicks off with the aptly named “Flip the Tables.” The song has an indie-pop feel and introduces synthesized beats and melodies to the tracklist. It even features soft vocal harmonies.
The nicely polished “Like Bobby Mac” serves up adult contemporary, and “Change a Little Part of the World” closes off the album with a slowed-down dose of classic country. But the tracks in which we really see left turns are the previously-released “I’m A Wreck,” which kicks it up even higher by entering into grungy pop-punk territory, and “Just Like That,” which gives us a taste of lo-fi rock.
While the first half of the album feels cohesive, the second half feels like odds and ends that have been thrown together to form something of a mixtape. Not only do the final tracks play genre leapfrog, but they also vary in production technique.
Corcoran attributes this melting pot of style to the fact that he compiled the work over multiple years, and he approaches the topic with an attitude that says, “well, why not?”
“For my last album (Nevahland), I put a lot of work into building a concept/storyline,” says Corcoran. “This time around, I decided to completely forego that process. I picture Giving Tree as a compilation of work from the past 2-3 years…
“It’s a set of songs connected only by that time period. I decided that that was ok. Most music fans, including myself, connect to individual songs… Whether or not they are part of a bigger theme is secondary. This mindset allowed me to showcase songs that go in a lot of different directions.”
With Giving Tree and Other Songs, Corcoran shows us his many sides. He allows the music to speak to fans from all walks, even including those of us who still find ourselves singing “Sure Can Start” from time to time during our morning shower.