On his latest album, Will, Canadian singer/songwriter Tyson Ray Borsboom creates intricate portraits of love and life in the modern world set to a terrific blend of genres, upbeat and fun at times, and somber and reflective at other times.
The Lethbridge, Alberta folk singer/songwriter employs his gut-wrenching baritone vocals and soft, soulful melodies to match a bright acoustic style.
After several years honing his craft, Borsboom teamed up with producer/engineer Kyle Prusky of Apex Audio to record and release his first EP, Sinner, which dropped in 2018.
Emphasizing his powerful vocal performances and stark arrangements, the seven-track EP was praised by critics as “deep, dynamic, and full of emotion.”
And now comes the release of his debut full-length album featuring some of the most accomplished musicians in Canada. For this album, Borsboom wanted a full-band sound.
The album opens with the somber, lo-fi acoustic track, “Coastlines,” that then changes course and evolves into an upbeat, stripped-down folk track without excessive concern for perfection – which is one thing we love about a lot of indie/DIY music. The track has a grooving melodic vibe that is infectious and well done all around.
The following track “Can’t Go Home” is an upbeat alt. country/folk number, brimming with joyful melodies and rhythms that are wonderfully played out with a solid backing percussion and Borsboom’s strangely comforting lyrics and vocals. A slide-guitar solo is employed just as one would expect, and welcome, for a terrific track.
“It’s a love story about a friend and his girlfriend,” Borsboom says. “They were dating for about three months.” The tale works out the dilemma of whether his friend should say ‘I love you’ to his girlfriend (for the first time) before he leaves on the trip. As the song shows, he does and he leaves with fairly strong feeling that she’ll be there waiting for him when he returns.
“My songwriting has been compared to [Leonard] Cohen and Dylan. There are so many different genres on the album it is tough to put it into one category or one artist.” We agree and it’s a good thing too. Thank goodness for DIY/indie music that doesn’t have to fit a category.
Borsboom says that his top musical influences are Kings of Leon, Dermot Kennedy, Bon Iver, Donovan Woods, Caamp, and Ziggy Alberts.
Next, the song “Run” is a sweet little number clocking in just under five minutes. The more I listen to Borsboom, the more he reminds me of Deer Tick and the band’s vocalist John J. McCauley.
My only criticism is that I would have left “Tell Me” off the album – it doesn’t seem to fit and while it’s an OK song, at nearly seven minutes it’s a bit trying.
That is followed by another melancholic-leaning, slow and sparse track, “Never Said Before.”
“It’s a tale about how I have never said ‘I love you’ before to any past partner,” he says. “It tells a story of times that I wanted to because they wanted to hear it or it would have made things easier, but I knew it would be a lie.”
“In these times we live in you must truly love someone with your whole soul in order to live out a good and full life with them without divorce or cheating,” he adds.
The mood picks up a bit on “One Night” – a song that is hard to nail down to a genre or style since Borsboom is employing – as he does – many at once. This is a fantastic song and could be a hit record if it got the right exposure. Clearly, relationships are the main theme running through his lyrics.
“The song is a story of someone who I felt very dearly about and they did not feel the same,” Borsboom says reflecting on the past. “There may have been times in the past where I have done this to others, so to see the shoe on the other foot was a surprise and heavy-hearted learning experience.”
“We must know when a relationship has run its course even when it hasn’t even begun.”
Another observation is that Borsboom strengths as a songwriter and vocalist may be best displayed in his upbeat, melodic, full-band numbers. That is not to say that he isn’t a good solo singer/songwriter – not in the least.
Songs like “Tell Me” and “Not Me” are wonderful solo folk performances. The most impacting solo track on the album is “Fall.” It is easily one of the most heartfelt, touching, and personal songs on the album.
Borsboom’s lyrics, and the emotion expressed in his often nasally, crackly (not always baritone) voice, are the main components of his effectiveness as a solo artist. He may also remind some of Mark Kozelek.
Borsboom says that songs like “I Don’t Mind” and “Now I Know” are “about friendship and mental health. I had a friend who took her own life and other friends struggling with depression,” he adds. “It made me write about how we need to appreciate our friends and family and really be there for them when they need us, especially when it’s not convenient.”
I think “Tell Me” would have been better placed at the end of the album because it’s too radical a switch too early and for too long (nearly seven minutes).
Of course, my own preferences and prejudices are involved, but if you like upbeat and mellow/melancholy folk/alt. country rock, Will is an album you’ll want to listen to all of the way through.