Throughout 2018, Adam Young challenged himself to write a song every day. It was outside of the norm for the Cape Breton pianist, who could count on one hand how many songs he had written in the past two decades. But the task was more than accomplished, and sewing together the songs and movements he devised over those 365 days, Young has put together Yearbook, a collection reveling in the artist’s folksy tradition and highlighting just where his artistry can go.
Yearbook is a series of eleven sets of movements, all stemming from Young’s writing challenge and realized in conjunction with musicians he’s worked with before as well as ones he has always wanted to create with. Blending the traditional sound that Young knows best with variant and often surprising musical ideas, the album shifts regularly in its mood while still maintaining a distinct compositional fingerprint. An experimental playfulness weaves underneath the east coast sound and shows off a lighthearted elegance from the composer.
“Since these melodies are all new, there’s no real expectation of how they’re ‘supposed’ to sound,” Young states. “The original writing project was an experiment, so when it came time to record, it made sense to also experiment with the presentation of the music- to take some chance and really have some fun with it.”
Of particular note in this collection of songs is the fact that Young has presented them in two forms: the standard versions of the songs, as well as traditional versions which utilize piano—and fiddle-centered arrangements in the Cape Breton style.
Mergings of Young’s more familiar sound with more distant ideas are some of the greatest strengths of Yearbook. “Eleanor’s” combines jaunty keys with regal swells of strings for a gorgeous procession, and “Twirly” sees bagpipes wailing atop a heavy beat creating an incredibly unique listening experience. “Corned Beef And Garbage” stands out amongst the most standard sounds, holding true to roots while cascading along on a New Orleans promenade, wild, wily, and fun.
In the more experimental vein, we see the absolute oddball of “Watch The Weather,” a dashing chiptune sequence that pays homage to Young’s “vivid memories of spending hours upon hours playing Atari and Nintendo” back in the ’80s. And keeping more in line with the rest of the instrumentation but holding a sonic identity all its own is “Winter Sets In.” Powerful and gentle, an intricate ballet of city wind and an ambivalent swirl of visions passing along a street, it rings of Glassworks in many captivating ways.
To say the least, an album of twenty-two tracks is a lot. Even when considering it as two variations of the same set, Young has additional movements in many of the sets for the traditional versions that truly make them unique entities. While it is a testament of rigorous creation that Young not only crafted songs every day for a year but has two entire variations of the sets on Yearbook, it is the non-traditional half of these songs that truly shine. With his Cape Breton foundations already clearly cemented even in the non-traditional collection, it’s the first selection where we see a great depth and variation to his approach, and it is those bits of intrigue that show Young’s artistry.
Yearbook is a surprising and satisfying experience—and what surprises the most is that Adam Young had so few original pieces to his name before undertaking it. His capabilities as both a musician and songwriter are in full force here. Not only is Young keenly aware of where he can take his musical roots, but it is also clear that those places will likely only keep growing. Highly likely, the snapshots in this Yearbook are only a fraction of what the artist has to offer.