Day for Night

Album Review

On the Tragically Hip's fifth album, Day for Night, the band continues to churn with the same rock & roll fervor found on 1993's enigmatic Fully Completely. Gordon Downie's signature lyrical mysteries are just as lush, but much more dark-spirited. And that's the intent, for he's looking for a listener to identify with his passionate wordplay, which is both sturdy and sensitive. The delicate acoustics of "Grace, Too" build into a scale of tripping bass loops and complex drum waves, and Downie's vocals are much desired, making it a fierce anthemic kickoff. Emotional inquisitions — "Scared" and "Inevitability of Death" — suggest the Hip's position to shed any type of swagger, but the dreamscapes of "Nautical Disaster" and "Emergency" rely on the power of love. Day for Night stands on the minimalism of Downie's poignancy — nothing is overproduced and the songs themselves are left alone to arrive on their own. The Tragically Hip are artistic voyeurs, composing storybooks of enchanting beauty so that others may join them in telling the tales of life's offerings. Day for Night isn't afraid of that, presuming the band's simple acoustics. It's not an entirely acoustic album, but on acoustics it certainly thrives. It's merely a storm — the Tragically Hip's depiction of their own rock & roll.