Fortresses is the third full length release for Canadian wordsmith Octoberman (Mark Morrissette). The press release for Octoberman states that this is Morrissette’s most thematically unified work which examines a variety of relationships. I would agree with this statement as the relationship theme became fairly evident upon my first listen. Several relationships are explored on Fortresses such as a musicians relationship with his fans (opening track The Backlash), different lovers (Dancing With Your Ghosts) and obviously what most male musicians write about, relationships with girls, girls, girls. The stand out track on the album for me would have to be I Was Wrong. It is a personal ballad about several female related situations where…yep…you guessed it, Mark was wrong. It plays out as a light hearted, almost comical look at a past breakup, however, you can really hear the honesty behind the lyrics. I could relate to this song because even I have been wrong in the past.
But in this town / These girls are crazy
They want houses / They want babies
…
So now I’m sleeping on the floor
This new life aint fun no more
Something else that stood out for me on this album are the several tracks that have subtle female backing vocals. Leah Abramson (The Abramson Singers) and Sarah Hallman lend their pipes to Mark to touch up songs when needed. Also look out for the mean ukelele and piano on Thirty Reasons.
I like this new Octoberman album. On Fortresses it seems that less is more. The stripped down, simple tracks are the ones that stand out and will grab your attention. It comes out next Tuesday, September 1st on White Whale Records.
Octoberman is at the Dakota Tavern here in Toronto on October 8th.
