Quick & Dirty – Evening Hymns

By: Andrew Horan

Photo: courtesy of the artist

Evening Hymns

^{December 2, 2009 – Peterborough, Canada}

The title of Evening Hymns’ latest effort has taken on a special meaning for founding member Jonas Bonnetta.

Spirit Guides has literally been a spiritual guide for Bonnetta. He was going through a difficult time when he worked on the sophomore album, his first full-length under the Evening Hymns moniker after releasing a solo effort under his own name in 2007.

“I’m not a religious person but I think of myself as being somewhat spiritual, and I think that the record, for me, was happening in a certain part of my life where it was the only thing that was keeping me going forward, and so I thought of it very much as a spiritual guide,” Bonnetta explains.

While it may sound cliché, he says that working on the album helped him to stay positive. Though the bet he made with Casey Mecija of Ohbijou also helped with the motivation. They were chatting online when Bonnetta confided he was having trouble writing. Mecija told him that she was as well. Meanwhile, Ohbijou were putting the finishing touches on their sophomore release, Beacons.

The two eventually settled on having to have their albums recorded by the spring. It was then that Mecija recommended Ohbijou drummer James Bunton to Bonnetta for production duties.

Bunton was a fan of Evening Hymns’ starkly beautiful country and folk songs and agreed immediately. The pair completed Spirit Guides over the course of four days during the holidays at the end of 2008 at an art gallery in Peterborough, Bonnetta’s hometown.

“It’s this beautiful room. It (has) wood floors and really huge ceilings that are 20 feet high,” Bonnetta says.

It was a bit of a change from his past home recordings. It was also a reflection of the transitory stage Evening Hymns is in right now. The one-time solo project has evolved into a not-quite full-fledged band that has just started to test drive on the road.

According to Bonnetta, playing with a band came about out of necessity. There are some nights where playing a quiet acoustic set is fine, but other nights require something a bit louder.

“I’ve definitely wanted to make the sound bigger and do more with it live because, as a solo musician, you can only do so much on your own before it becomes a real magic show,” he says.

So, he’s been gradually integrating the band into Evening Hymns’ sets. When SoundProof caught up with Bonnetta, he hoped to have the group on stage for most of the set within a couple of weeks.

Having recently moved to Toronto from Peterborough, the band isn’t the only thing changing in Bonnetta’s life. Though the move to the city was a “no-brainer” given his association with Ohbijou and the Bellwoods scene, Bonnetta confesses that he misses living in Peterborough. He’s still in the process of trying to balance his day job operating a sawmill with his music.

“I find that more difficult being in the city now, to flip the switch on and off like I used to be able to do,” he confides. “It’s more difficult to be a city guy, staying up late and playing shows. To go out and operate my sawmill is friggin’ impossible now.”

http://www.soundproofmagazine.com/Canada/Features/Quick_Dirty_-_Evening_Hymns.html

There’s an unmistakable warmth on Spirit Guides, the debut full-length from Evening Hymns, a.k.a. southern Ontario folk hero Jonas Bonnetta. It’s a warmth that transforms the nine patient, building tracks from simple finger-picking heartbeats into lush, sweeping strokes of near-perfect orchestral pop. Bonnetta hasn’t released heaps of music recently, but it’s hard to fault him for taking his time. After all, the emotional buildup that permeates Spirit Guides creates a currency all its own. One that measures wealth in tears, stirring tales of regret and memories that seem to shake very core of Bonnetta’s grave and humbling voice. “Dead Deer” is the emotional breadwinner of the album, using healthy doses of temperate accordion and sweeping strings as a means to throw sticks on the fire. This isn’t campfire music, though, these are songs you’re meant to lock into on the coldest of nights and not let go.  8/10

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/116997-evening-hymns-spirit-guides/

Hymns of love and spirits

(photo: outofthisspark.com)

There’s a kind of hush that opens “Lanterns”, the first track of Spirit Guides by Evening Hymns that reminds me of standing alone in a sacred space, dimly lit, with just your thoughts for company.  The tone of the album is one of contemplation, or yearning for some understanding and meaning of life, love; a longing for answers that probably don’t exist, and may very well just lead to more questions and confusion.  That being said, it’s also a gorgeous album of stark beauty and lushness, and has an underlying sense of redemption and hope that seems to render all else moot.

Jonas Bonnetta is originally from Orono, Ontario and currently calls Peterborough his home.  His music very much echoes that of his friends and label mates on Out of This Spark (Ohbijou, The Wooden Sky and Forest City Lovers), making his spiritual home a little closer to the heart of Southern Ontario’s rising musical mecca.  When I first heard “Mtn. Song” I could swear I was listening to The Acorn, but much like Frank Chromewaves, I quickly realized that to try and make musical comparisons with Evening Hymns is to ignore the impressive beauty of the music itself.  Regardless of the talent that has joined him on these recordings, all their skill would be for naught if it weren’t for Bonetta’s expressive vocals and wondrous songwriting.  “Tumultuous Sea” even gets a little funky, showing that there’s more to Evening Hymns than just melancholy and pain.  Through swelling horns and a chorus of hand claps, the clouds break and a ray of sun breaks forth, and you know is all going to be alright.

At a time of the year when thoughts and minds have turned to year-end lists and encapsulating the last twelve months, Evening Hymns have given me that rarest of treats:  an album of breathtaking beauty that I didn’t even know I was missing.  Bonetta celebrates teh release of the LP tonight with a free in-store at Soundscapes (572 College Street, Toronto) at 7PM and a full show at the Tranzac (292 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto) on December 4.

http://www.quickbeforeitmelts.com/2009/12/hymns-of-love-and-spirits-2/