Wax Mannequin
No Safe Home
(Zunior)
4/5
Hailing from Hamilton, Ontario, Wax Mannequin (also known as Chris Adeney) has just dropped his sixth album. And, luckily for Adeney’s fans, the man loves to hit the road, which is perfect: this is the kind of music that begs for a live show.
The songs are just dripping with a feeling that there’s more to be seen and understood. The soft shuffle of brushes on a snare drum in the first tune, “Black Bells,” might set a sombre mood if it weren’t followed by “Beware.” With its train-coming-down-the-track immediacy, this cautionary tale forces the listener to, well, listen. Carefully.
The tragedy of “Tears From the Moon” mixes lovesick with seasick in under two minutes, while “Don’t Want to Go” sticks in heads with its subtle catchiness.
Call it folk rock, call it bare bones, call it Tom Waits reincarnated. (Wait, Waits isn’t dead…) Whatever, just call it a damn fine album from a talented entertainer, and an album that only gets better with every listen.