Close To Paradise

One of Montreal's best kept secrets, Patrick Watson is a young piano-playing singer/songwriter who draws influences from a wide range of artists, including Jeff Buckley, Erik Satie, Bjork and early Pink Floyd. He's backed by a strong band that includes Robbie Kuster on drums, Mishka Stein on bass, and Simon Angell on guitar. The band has played with an impressive group of artists, from fellow Canadian stars like Feist, Lhasa, Champion, and the Dears, to international legends like Phillip Glass and James Brown. In age of records as mp3 cookie-cutter compilations, Close to Paradise is actually an album. Make no mistake, there are pop gems that are happy to stand on their own like 'Giver', 'Luscious Life' or 'Drifters', but 'Bright Shiny Lights' is that much more uplifting after you take the trip that is 'Sleeping Beauty'. Records used to do that kind of thing. They still can. You know, if you want them to. Play it loud, with headphones. Secret City. From the Artist On the one hand it's impossible to ignore Patrick Watson as a classic singer-songwriter; the charming young piano-player with the haunting voice. The big impact of an otherwise simple song like "The Great Escape" is a testament to the attention that Patrick's voice, delivery and sensibility command. (Just try and avoid vocal comparisons to Jeff Buckley on "Luscious Life" (inflected with just a bit of Sufjan Stevens-like orchestration), or the penetrating stripped-down gospel of "Bright Shiny Lights". But with Robbie Kuster, Mishka Stein and Simon Angell filling out the lineup and contributing songwriting, you've also got a classic four piece rock band ready to explode