Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle

Kevin Hearn and Thin Buckle
The Miracle Mile
(Warner)
While the Barenaked Ladies continue on as a Canadian pop entity, the best music these days arguably comes from the members’ activity outside the band. The Brothers Creegan, Steven Page’s Vanity Project and BNL’s keyboardist Kevin Hearn all prove the point. With Thin Buckle—with whom he’s now made three official albums—Hearn delivers The Miracle Mile. The title refers to the area in Los Angeles where he wrote most of these tunes. They were recorded in Toronto. Miracle Mile collects more of Hearn’s melodic, moving meditations (some are sombre) and musings (some are silly and fun) on life. Perhaps due to his own brush with mortality (Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia to be exact), an experience he chronicles on the 1998 record H Wing, Hearn has kept up his interest in the body, what it means to inhabit one and be in the world. Here his tune “Map of the Human Genome” turns a visit to a genetic research site into a poetic contemplation of the future of the human race. Though there may be an underpinning philosophy to the recording, it’s not preachy or heavy-handed. Taking a cue from his gentle voice, on songs such as “Lancaster Bomber” or “High and Low,” the album’s music favours the quiet, wee hours of a day in the life of the mind.
—Sean Flinn
categories: Coast pick,Canadian artist