Just Another Ordinary Day

Personnel: Patrick Watson (vocals, piano, programming); Simon Angell (guitar); Simon Gamache (French horn); Robbie Kuster (drums).
Recording information: Cartel Studios, Montreal, Canada; Victor Studios, Montreal, Canada.
Photographer: Brigitte Henry.
Arrangers: Patrick Watson; Simon Angell; Robbie Kuster; Mikhail Stein.
Released in 2003, Just Another Ordinary Day was Patrick Watson's first outing with Simon Angell, Robbie Kuster, and Mishka Stein (he had issued his solo debut, Waterproof9, two years prior), and while it lacks some of the focus and pop acumen of later, more well-known outings like Close to Paradise and Wooden Arms, it has no shortage of big ideas. Bolstered by the sweeping title cut, a cinematic slow burn that, like much of the material here, flirts with traditional pop architecture but never really puts out, the nine-track collection sounds more like the work of a band looking for its center. Largely wordless pieces like "Woods" and "Brigitte's Theme" suggest a heavy diet of Sigur Rós and Kid A-era Radiohead, while less ephemeral, yet no less ethereal tracks like the almost Beatlesque "Mary" and the dense and evocative "Silent City" subvert their prettier moments with sharp stabs of dissonance, lending a sense of icy unease to what is already a fairly wintry collection of technically impressive, yet oddly empty orchestral pop confections. ~ James Christopher Monger