This Busy Stillness is the first of a trio of new releases from The Great Outdoors, all finely crafted in partnership with award-winning producer/engineer Jesse Gander at Vancouver’s Rain City Recorders. Delivered after a decade-long recording hiatus, This Busy Stillness is an epic collection of songs that succinctly captures the quintet’s evolution as they resume their ascent from the East Van Eden underground they helped create. From that signature folk-rock TGOD sound, to that sprawling, descriptive lyrical style, This Busy Stillness aptly marks the band’s ninth – and most critically acclaimed – release to date.
Some say the new album takes The Great Outdoors even further down that path of “Crazy Horse sans Neil Young” comparisons. The addition of horns and heavy groove also harken comparisons to everything from Dire Straits to The Band. And, as always, their two-singer-songwriter format garners comparisons to The Eagles. But please, stop that. They don’t sound anything like the Eagles.
Credits:
Recorded at Rain City Recorders in 2020, Engineered by Jesse Gander, Horns arranged by Ford Pier, Baritone sax by Jerry Cook, Trumpet and trombone by Luis Melgar, Strings by Emily Helsdon, Additional vocals by Ron Coldham, Band crest by Anita Sikma, All songs written and produced by the Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors: Adam Bartlett, Steve Wells, Aran Bingham, Randy Forrester, Craig McCaul
Credit: Anita Sikma