Eric Chenaux Trio - Delights Of My Life (2024) [Hi-Res]

Eric Chenaux's understated songwriting voice feels a bit like it has emerged out of nowhere, even as he's pursued his personal style for over two decades. He has a clear awareness of rock and folk traditions, but also stays far from these conventions. His songs have an internal beauty and logic that can welcome a listener by hinting at genre without flying particularly close to any. The repeating sections that loosely function as verses and choruses provide a grounding structure. As Chenaux never builds upon standard rock rhythm sections, his songs instead float with subtle references to their underlying rhythm. Even with the addition of Philippe Melanson's abstract electronic percussion, Delights of My Life still stays far from metered drumming.

The tonality also feels familiar without relying on the overt major or minor key progressions common in rock or folk. Chenaux's vocal style, with impressive airiness and range but still a bit of grit, lies closer to rock music than art song. Breaks into extended guitar solos hint at classic rock, even as texture and tonality extend far past the norms of that era.

Chenaux and songwriter Ryan Driver, who plays Wurlitzer organ on Delights of My Life, both grew their musical visions and identities by accompanying Toronto-based composer, improviser, and educator Martin Arnold. As members of Marmots, they explored Arnold's pieces with a loosely-structured beauty on 2001's Treacle Wall. Chenaux's mature songwriting voice emerged soon after on Love Don't Change, his 2003 duo album with Michelle McAdorey, and then in The Reveries, his trio with Driver and Doug Tielli.

In a shift from layering guitar and vocals on his recent song albums, Chenaux uses trio arrangements with a single guitar and mostly a single voice. He has recorded organically on some improvisational instrumental recordings, but Delights of My Life brings the approach to his vocal songs for the first time. The Wurlitzer, processed guitar, and electronic percussion textures sometimes even blur together, as on "Light Can Be Low." On the title track, the instruments sound distinct and somewhat conventional, with the percussion acting like a primitive drum machine. Chenaux continues his tendency to rethink and re-record his material, with "Hello Eyes" evolving from a freer 2022 instrumental into the trio's arrangement here.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Eric Chenaux Trio - This Ain't Life (10:17)
1.02 - Eric Chenaux Trio - I've Always Said Love (7:41)
1.03 - Eric Chenaux Trio - Hello Eyes (6:33)
1.04 - Eric Chenaux Trio - These Things (5:43)
1.05 - Eric Chenaux Trio - Simply Fly (4:18)
1.06 - Eric Chenaux Trio - Light Can Be Low (6:52)
1.07 - Eric Chenaux Trio - Delights Of My Life (7:03)