Nov 20, 2007
CD REVIEW - GREG QUILL THE TORONTO STAR
Roots
DAVE GUNNING House For Sale (Wee House of Music/Fusion III) **** (out of 4)
Nova Scotia songwriter Gunning's new album,
his sixth since the mid-1990s, is a formidable step
in the right direction. That's not to say that he has
ever put a foot wrong in a most assured ascendancy,
just that House For Sale – a less personal and
more inclusive set than its wonderful predecessor, last
year's Two-Bit World, thanks largely to collaborations
with master songwriter Ron Hynes and Pictou County country
star George Canyon, among others – is such a mature
piece of work, both lyrically and musically. Fans might
be surprised by the album's country twang, particularly
in the melodies and chord progressions, and in the subtly
ornate acoustic arrangements, but these brilliant story
songs evoke only a sense that Gunning knows the world
about which he writes and sings (the Maritimes, the
prairie wind, the tyranny of distance). Top track: "Hard
Working Hands," a hypnotic paean to human resilience.
