Ron Sexsmith - Hermitage [LP]

Vinyl LP pressing. 2020 album from the Canadian singer/songwriter. Hermitage is the follow-up to his 2017 album The Last Rider. Ron worked with producer Don Kerr to create this album; the two set up in Ron's living room to record where Ron played all the instruments for the album, with the exception of the drums. The result is the songwriter's most self-assured collection, still charmingly subtle yet increasingly full of musical vigor, as on "Chateau Mermaid," an ode to his own Stratford Graceland, or the surprisingly hopeful "Small Minded World" in which Sexsmith croons, Oh now don't feel blue 'cos they don't get you, you'll win this small minded world. This new zen can be heard from the first moments of Kinks-esque album opener, "Spring of the Following Year," as the serene sound of birds situate the listener into Sexsmith's state of grace.