The Jayhawks return with their first album in six years – just in time to celebrate their 40th Anniversary. Sanctuary Park is frontman Gary Louris’s paean to his wife, Stephanie and to the Canadian environment that shaped her.
A SENSE OF PLACE…
The timing couldn’t be better. Just as US alt. country stalwarts The Jayhawks prepare to celebrate their 40th anniversary, up they pop with their first new album in six years. A number of significant changes have been rung whilst The Jayhawks have been away. First, and foremost, frontman/mainstay and founding member Gary Louris married his Canadian wife, Stephanie shortly after 2020 album, XOXO, hit the racks. It’s fair to say that the impact of that union resonates throughout Sanctuary Park in every possible way: from the album’s title, to the place in which it was recorded; from the team responsible for the recording, to the subject matter of many of the songs.
I’ll elaborate…
Sanctuary Park is an album with a sense of place. The album was recorded in Canada. Producer Bob Ezrin is, of course, Canadian and so are his team of recording engineers. Gary Louris is now also a Canadian citizen, having taken that status after he married Stephanie and the songs on Sanctuary Park are riddled with Canada-specific references. Most predominantly, Sanctuary Park is a paean to Stephanie, the environment that shaped and the special place she occupies in Gary’s affections.
KEY STRENGTHS
The relationship between The Jayhawks and producer Bob Ezrin is a long-standing one. Famed for his work with Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel and, especially, Pink Floyd, Ezrin was also the producer of the Jayhawks’ classic 2000 album, Smile. When he heard that the Jayhawks were seeking a producer for their new album, Ezrin immediately volunteered and invited the band to his Toronto studio. “I love their music,” he says. “There is a gentleness and a sweetness to their sound, and I found myself craving a little more of that.”
The eleven songs that constitute Sanctuary Park are all penned by Louris and, in doing so, he made a conscious decision to highlight the band’s key strengths. These include their signature three-part vocal harmonies and the: “…intuitive interplay between Louris, keyboard player Karen Grotberg, drummer Tim O’Reagan and bassist Marc Perlman.” “Get us in a room together and there’s no-one better,” says Louris. “We have a certain musical magic that happens without even a word or a discussion.”
IMPOSSIBLE TO DISLIKE
It’s lead single, Keeping Our Heads Above Water that gets Sanctuary Park up and running. It’s a tasty slice of easy-going Americana and the signature harmonies are present and oh-so-correct from the very get-go. The backing is a tasteful menage of strummed guitars and vibrant piano; a song that it’s impossible to dislike.
The first of several dedications from Gary to wife Stephanie, Kingston Girl documents the blossoming of the pair’s relationship and how they: “…battled the odds of distance and COVID to build a life together.” Gary makes lyrical references to Saskatoon, Kingston, Lake Louise and more and, taking the Canadian references even further, there’s even a hint of Neil Young in his voice as he sings: “I put my money on a Kingston girl – just the two of us, baby, versus the world.” The guitars are clear and heavy, Karen’s piano provides the propulsion and guest Todd Lumley applies the final touches with his splashes of accordion.
A co-write with friend Emerson Hart, Mr Lincoln is Gary’s version of the events in Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC on the night of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. It’s a song with a Beatle-ish flavour; indeed, it could almost be mistaken for a lost John Lennon song from the Abbey Road sessions. It’s bouncy and it’s poppy, with bass and piano dominant – and the vocal harmonies are, once again, pristine.
TIGHT AND FREEWHEELING
With lines like: “I don’t care what people say, if they don’t like us, they can look the other way. We’ll go walking arm-in-arm, we don’t mean nobody harm,” Gary expresses the power that his relationship with Stephanie confers upon them both. This time, it’s Harry Chapin that comes to mind as the band deliver the wistful tune and Mike Johnson cements the ‘world-be-damned’ attitude with some delightful pedal steel licks.
Described as “A song about taking risks despite past failures,” Leap Of Faith takes the mood in a boozy, folky direction. Todd Lumley’s accordion sits alongside Karen’s piano and the spirit of Garth Hudson and The Band (yet another Canadian connection…) comes immediately to mind. There might be a dark edge to Gary’s lyrics, but the tune is a joyful one – it’s a foot-tapping earworm.
American Midnight, the second of the two singles to preview Sanctuary Park, is a fast-moving rocker, built around a recurrent guitar riff. Tight and freewheeling, it’s surely destined to become a centrepiece of The Jayhawks imminent European tour dates.
SINGING FROM THE HEART
On an album packed with passionate pleas to wife Stephanie, it is, perhaps, with Always And A Day that Gary expresses his emotions in their rawest form. Speaking of his lyrics – and of their delivery – Gary says: “I am singing from the heart… My absolute love and devotion to my wife, Steph. We are inseparable and when I say I need you by my side, I mean it.” The song is another fast-paced rocker, with a sincere, soulful, undercurrent. Howls of harmonica punctuate the gaps between the verses and Gary’s guitar solo (which he rates as his favourite on the album) is a scorcher.
And there’s more blazing guitar soloing to enjoy on the album’s title track – Bob Ezrin reckons that Gary’s playing on this one reminded him of Dave Gilmour – a compliment indeed. The song’s (and the album’s) title is a reference to the district of Dundas, Ontario where Stephanie was raised and, with lyrics like: “I wish I had known you, our paths had crossed back then – I would have been your first lover, more than merely friends,” Gary gets right to the heart of the matter.
There’s more reminiscences to come, as Gary steps back to his own schooldays for Familiar Strangers, a song inspired by a thread of emails that Gary received from some former classmates. Nostalgia is the emotion that pervades Gary’s vocal tones, as he sings of “[Drinking] church wine in the parking lot.” Behind him, the band are as solid and reliable as ever and the backing vocals are, as always, as clean as a whistle.
THE PERFECT ALBUM CLOSER
Mike Johnson returns with his pedal steel to add a special country sparkle to It’ll Be Alright Tonight. “With fingers crossed, a captive audience was held. Entranced by our first dance, all my defences fell,” sings Gary as he relives the blissful memories of his life with Stephanie. The vocal harmonies are as gentle as Gary’s lyrics and, when Gary’s guitar interweaves with Mike’s pedal steel, the picture of perfection is complete.
And this welcome, long-overdue album is brought to a sentimental close with Rowing The Boat, ostensibly a children’s song, with lyrics that encourage us all to embrace our differences. Gary plays a nice ragtime guitar figure, his vocals are as gentle as the song’s lyrics and, for one final time, the harmonies are crystal clear. “It felt like the perfect album closer,” said Gary. He wasn’t wrong…
And more good news: The Jayhawks will be arriving in Europe this September for shows in Scandinavia, Belgium, the Netherlands and UK dates in Brighton, London, Manchester and Glasgow. Full details of their itinerary (which also includes shows in North America) can be found here.
Listen to Keeping Our Heads Above Water – the album’s lead single – below:
The Jayhawks: Website