Cam Maclean's concise collection of interests
The sophisticated and suave styles of Cam Maclean; photographed by Thom Gillies.
Some artists have an intuitive command of orchestrating strong styles of serenity and absolute serendipity. Cue Montreal, Québec’s own Cam Maclean who wowed the world with 2018’s Wait For Love, work in Vesuvio Solo and recently blessed the world with the code of cool and calm — Secret Verses. Recorded with the lauded genius of Cadence Weapon’s Rollie Pemberton and Alex Crow; Cam and company have constructed a mesmerizing creative cycle of suave, sophistication and sleekly smooth. The culmination of recordings from Montreal’s Crow studios and Toronto’s Dream House respectively; Maclean meshes together the vintage album rock aesthetic found in your grandparents’ collections and dollar bin masterpieces that are transformed into contemporary classic creations to assuage the angst and rancor of our current era.
Secret Verses lets you lay down in lush pastures like the MOR pop pastiche perfection heard on "Shy Companion", continuing that sweet and slick 70s thought stream into the existential posh terrace deck pool of "Life is Not". Maclean and Pemberton wield their musical witchcraft in time tripping wonders like "See How I Miss You", keeping that magic sparkling, shaking and shimmering on the peppy tranquility of "Crossing Over" as "Interlude" glistens with calming chords that guides the audience to the aptly titled "Visions". Cam executes an AM frequency that emanates like a vapor of the past's musical movements that grace the atmosphere like the fog of a familiar tonal aura vaguely recalled from an antiquated time and place.
The languid "Long Nights" explores a seemingly eternal evening with a combination of traditional motifs and a mind mystifying mix. "Thief" works like a chamber pop pastoral of midnight moods, as Cam closes the record with a prime time soap opera ballad on "Wild Roses" that blooms with a brooding baritone heralding the rites of spring. Secret Verses mixes modern highway hymns, long distance lullabies that collide in a blissful and candid congress like the joining of long lost star-crossed lovers at the desolate crossroads of dusty interstates surrounded by fields of weeds and wild flowers. Join us now as Cam proudly presents:
A concise collection of interests by Cam Maclean
Rooftop cityscapes with Cam Maclean; photographed by Ariana Molly.
Tampopo
I love this movie, and re-watching it early last year provided me with a much-needed, zany escape from pandemic reality. It is such a celebration of the chaos of the endless forms a love of food can take - while putting down pretentious, elitist efforts to turn the celebration of food into something that requires some sort of refinement. I am a big fan of both Ramen and Westerns, and love that the movie has this hilarious “Ramen Western” thing going on.
Guitar Tok
Recently I've been getting more into TikTok - as much as a big part of me wishes social media didn't exist. I like that it's less curated than Instagram, and that people just follow each other without being as concerned with follower/following ratios, etc. It's also very heartening to receive truly kind comments from strangers. No issues with trolls thus far! Lots of incredible musicians on there, too. The videos I've posted recently (and I've only recently started to try to post somewhat regularly) have more or less come from the inner guitar nerd teenager that still lives inside me. I recently posted an acoustic version of "Little Wing" to TikTok, for instance.
“Too Late” by Bob Dylan
This song is an outtake from the Bob Dylan record Infidels, and recently appeared on volume 16 of his bootleg series. From the opening line, ‘whether it was murder I don't know I wasn't there, I was busy visiting a friend in jail,’ to jokey social commentary about those with great power like, ‘they don't come to party man, they kill babies in the crib saying only the good die young.' I became obsessed with this song. It's musically simple and lyrically dense, like a lot of the best Dylan songs. My partner and I listened to it endlessly on many of last year's aimless road trips.
Dan Dan Noodles
I guess I'm really into noodles right now. This recipe is so easy and tasty. I would eat it every day if that was a reasonable thing to do. I use maple syrup instead of brown sugar because I have it on hand more often, sometimes experiment with adding or subtracting spices. I like to eat these noodles while drinking a large bottle of Pilsner.
Phone calls
Kicking it cool with Cam Maclean; photographed by Sarah O’Driscoll.
I almost forgot you could just go on walks and talk on the phone, after being Zoomed out for two years. Now I have rekindled my love of going on long walks through the many parks of my neighborhood and looking at trees, birds, and local dogs, while musing about God-knows-what with friends of mine in different cities.
Cam Maclean’s Secret Verses is available now.