Jack Murtha has a very particular set of skills; skills that he has acquired over a very long couple of years, two bands, various jazz combos, and a marketing and entrepreneurship course at Saint Mary’s University. Now he’s applying them to his latest project: Postfun.
Already known for his work with Halifax-based bands Social Smokers Club and norc, Murtha set out in the ashes of the industry, fleshing out his work with collaborators Mackenzie Adams, Carter MacDonald, Thomas Hart and Kevin Laing and further tapping the talents of producer John Mullane (In-Flight Safety) and session player Dale Murray (pedal steel). We’re not seeing the fruits of their labour emerge in the form of “The River is a Folk Song.”
For Murtha, “The River is a Folk Song” represents the ideal pop song. It’s bright and dreamy and contains the first blush of colour that comes with post-winter euphoria, but at its heart is still a sense of longing.
“This river ain’t made for drinkin’
It’s an acquired taste
This place ain’t good for thinkin’
‘Cuz I can’t think about anything when I’m thinkin’ about you”
That’s not the pining of a love song, but the frustration of trying to capture lightning in a bottle and the struggles of Murtha’s own songwriting process.
“The song, both literally and metaphorically, represents my challenge with writing accessible pop songs. It is something that I’ve always wanted to do; to have music perceived well by others, however, I have only gained writing inspiration from inaccessible music,” says Murtha.
Murtha says that his tastes in music has shifted from growing up with Rush, to hardcore music and punk, then falling in love with jazz, but Postfun’s inspiration draws from the likes of folk artists. He names Andy Shauf, Timber Timbre and Sam Evian as influences.
“I find writing accessible music to be incredibly difficult to do and I become easily distracted by other concepts from less accessible music,” says Murtha.
“The song, in short, is a love letter to the music that does it for me in every way. It distracts me and pulls my focus away from trying to make a career in the music industry and likely will be the reason I am unable to make a living doing it.”
It perhaps didn’t help that Murtha didn’t find himself coping particularly well with the last year and a half, though it did lead to ample time for productivity. Add a combination of a nightly being of Twin Peaks and Garrison Tall Ship and Murtha found himself in a mood for musical experimentation.
With an abstract video from Michael Coolen, the song looks inward at all the necessary components for creativity but the bittersweet necessity of production is pitched against the demands of an audience. Whatever bright tones we hear, with the optimism of exploration, are interwoven with a sense of pensive melancholy.