Tim Baker: Dance
The leader of Hey Rosetta! is going solo, with a debut album coming in April. This lead single is a tender piano ballad that allows his rich and resonant voice to shine.
By Kerry Doole
Tim Baker - "Dance" Arts & Crafts): After finding national success with the band Hey Rosetta! over a 12-year period, the frontman and chief songwriter is following a solo path.
His debut full-length, Forever Overhead, is set for release on April 19, via Arts & Crafts, and this lead single will heighten anticipation.
It begins as a tender piano ballad, with Baker making a simple declaration of love. The tune is gradually fleshed out with a trebly guitar riff, but it remains appealingly sparse, allowing Baker's resonant voice to shine.
A label press release notes that "when crafting the album, Baker drew from ‘70s songwriters, like Jackson Browne and Randy Newman, whose music filled his childhood home and from his contemporaries (Feist, Leif Vollebekk, The Barr Brothers). Produced by Marcus Paquin (The National, Local Natives), Forever Overhead blends piano ballads with ebullient folk-rock tracks featuring Liam O’Neill (Suuns), Ben Whiteley (The Weather Station), as well as Mishka Stein and Joe Grass (Patrick Watson)."
A year ago, Baker travelled across Canada solo to play a handful of intimate solo shows in some unusual venues: a book store, living rooms, a ski lodge, the rink bar during a curling tournament and a hotel room he lived in for a week. This served as a road test for his new solo material.
Baker begins a headline tour around release time, with a hometown show in St. John’s on April 20. He then plays North American dates through June. Itinerary here.
Links
Publicity: Julie Booth, Freshly Pressed PR