Album Review – Whitney Rose’s “Heartbreaker of the Year”
I don’t know what they’re lacing the Canadian municipal water supplies with these days that allows the great frozen north to churn out authentic country and roots artists worthy of ears in bumper crop fashion, but they better import some of that concoction down here to the States post haste because Canada is kicking our ass in cool new country artists per capita.
The latest rolling out brand new old school country jams is Toronto, Ontario’s Whitney Rose—a sensational songwriter and singer who has just released here sophomore album Heartbreaker of the Year via Cameron House Records. Not your run-of-the-mill singer/songwriter record, Whitney toured throughout Canada in support of the legendary Cuban-inspired country outfit The Mavericks in 2014, and the extended trek codified a working relationship with frontman Raul Malo who took the reigns as producer of the new ten-song effort.
Whitney self-describes her music as “vintage-pop-infused-neo-traditional-country,” and after repeated spins of this new record, I’d say this description is not too far off. Eight self-penned tracks are offered up for audio consumption, and the two covers—Hank’s “Tear In My Beer” and The Ronettes’ “Be My Baby”—speak to the somewhat disparate, yet still strangely-intuitive throwback influences that comprise Whitney’s unique and compelling sound.
This combination of classic country and old school pop also make Raul Malo and excellent choice for a co-collaborator since he’s been working in similar mediums for some 25 years. Malo also dragged fellow Mavericks Jerry Dale McFadden, Jay Weaver, and Paul Deakin up to Canada to help record, and along with steel player Burke Carroll, Drew Jurecka, and principle Whitney Rose band member, guitarist Nichol Robertson, they churned out one hefty vintage-feeling country record in a cool four days.
If Whitney Rose has written or sang a bad song, you won’t hear it here. Sultry, dynamic, spicy in the way it slides between styles yet continues forward cohesively, Heartbreaker of the Year is quite the exhibition of Whitney’s talents. Though it would be a sin to gloss over the original material, Whitney’s duet with Raul on “Be My Baby” is so tight, and so handsomely sung, this rendition is worth this album’s price of admission alone.
But the original material is what attests to Whitney’s lasting appeal. Songs like “The Devil Borrowed My Boots Last Night” and “Heartbreaker of the Year” are just indicative enough of classic writing, yet still original enough to retain relevance to modern ears that it wouldn’t be a stretch to label them timeless. Whitney goes from go-go booted 60’s pop rock in “My First Rodeo,” to sheer classic country heartbreak in “The Last Party” like flipping a switch. Though it’s a sleeper in the next-to-last track position, “Lasso” might be the song with the juiciest melody on this record.
The production of Heartbreaker of the Year finds the right mood for each song virtually the whole time, despite the four-day time constraints the album was recorded under, and the raw form in which Whitney brought the songs into the studio. There’s plenty of space for Whitney’s voice to breathe, though “Heartbreaker of the Year” and “Tear In My Beer” felt a little simple in the instrumental composition, especially in the percussion, with the latter feeling a little tired by the end. At times it also seemed like Whitney’s voice, though strong otherwise, wasn’t really projecting on the recording. It’s hard to hear what she’s saying at the beginning of “Only Just A Dream” for example.
Another female Canadian-born songstress with a penchant for shifting between classic American music styles by the name of Tami Neilson set the standard in 2014 for this type of throwback record, and Heartbreaker of the Year is an album that touches stylistically on a similar vein.
With the help of Raul Malo, Whitney Rose comes into bloom, and lends credence to the idea that women are the ones helping lead country music out of the clod, frozen wasteland.
1 3/4 of 2 Guns Up.
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August 29, 2015 @ 9:39 am
I’m glad Whitney made it on your radar. You should check out her freshman album too. Pretty sure she’s got a Nashville showcase coming up.
August 29, 2015 @ 10:02 am
I like the album. It took a lot of nerve to cover “Be My Baby” as a duet and they pull it off. I wouldn’t call this album country, though, as it’s so much more than that.
August 29, 2015 @ 11:43 am
I lover her music but it sure is not fair for her to do a duet with Raul Malo. To me it is his voice that stands out, it has a “What a Crying Shame” cd feel to it.
August 29, 2015 @ 12:16 pm
I think Raul Malo is one of the greatest singers of our generation, and the fact that he’s not a superstar is the reason this truth alludes an unfortunate number of people. Aside from dueting with Dolly Parton or someone of that stature, he’s going to outmatch anyone. But if I had a chance to put Raul on my record, it would be nearly impossible to balk.
August 29, 2015 @ 1:57 pm
I bought this album on Amazon and it is truly stunning. Rare to find a female in Country that actually writes all of her own songs with no co-writing. A gifted songwriter and a beautiful singer. Reminds me of Emmylou or Linda Rondstadt but with mostly original tunes. I hope to see her perform someday.
August 29, 2015 @ 2:24 pm
Wow, great album. 50’s, 60’s pop music as good as it gets today, but it sure as heck ain’t country music. The wall of sound feel to quite a few of these recordings is just good fun. Love it.
But, I really don’t see labeling retro pop like this and a great rock artist like Jason Isbell country furthering the quest of saving country music.
I love Jason Isbell’s music much more than healthy, but is it country music? Is Springsteen country music? If so Nebraska is as country as it gets.
August 29, 2015 @ 6:39 pm
“but it sure as heck ain”™t country music.”
So “The Last Party” embedded above is not country? If that’s the case, then I guess I don’t know what is. No, not every song on the album is country, it’s about half and half.
August 31, 2015 @ 3:10 pm
I wouldn’t say Isbell is a strictly country artist by any means, but he’s an artist that occasionally makes excellent country music along with great southern rock and folk/singer songwriter stuff. Alabama Pines, Codeine, and Live Oak are pretty country sounding to me, while 24 Frames and Super 8 are definitely rock songs.
August 29, 2015 @ 7:26 pm
Our water (and country music) is just fine up here Trigger. Come on up for a sip sometime!
August 29, 2015 @ 11:22 pm
Wow, what a voice! A couple of truly beautiful songs there, especially “The Last Party”.
Thanks for helping me discover another worthy singer, Trigger!
August 30, 2015 @ 9:37 am
Took me some time to get used to her style, and I think for country fans, that might be hard, especially with a more “vintage-pop-infused” opener like “Little Piece of You.” I think the style is one that won’t appeal to everyone, but if you do like the style, it’s a good album. Her voice is great, and there are some good examples of her songwriting. I was really impressed with the covers she chose and how she interpreted them. It was refreshing to hear covers like these instead of bad covers of pop or hip-hop songs. As for the style, it really helped me to review it when I went to her site and found where she calls it “vintage-pop-infused-neo-traditional-country” because that’s a really good description that makes the album easier to appreciate.
August 30, 2015 @ 9:39 am
Don’t know about the water, but I have seen an interview where Steve Earle accounts for his greater popularity in Canada (where he still pulls bigger crowds than in much of the US). He said that radio in Canada was required to play a certain percentage of Canadian artists, which meant that people like Gordon Lightfoot and Neil Young were played even on pop stations, so even pop fans had more exposure to good music. Don’t know if that is still a requirement, but an interesting theory. (That interview was probably 10 years ago.)
Thanks for the review. I haven’t listened to Rose in awhile.
August 30, 2015 @ 10:18 am
From other comments I have seen on this site, I can tell you it is still a requirement, but I don’t know how much that affects Whitney Rose because the comments I saw were in relation to Lindi Ortega, and these people say Lindi Ortega is not played on Canadian radio.
August 30, 2015 @ 10:48 am
They may be slow to play newer Canadian artists… or perhaps there are more Canadian pop artists to fill the quota than in the past? I do think there is a greater roots music culture in parts of Canada, form the little time I have spent there. Whitney Rose is from the Maritimes… not “country” like the prairie provinces, but a healthy folk culture.
August 30, 2015 @ 10:32 am
This is really good music. I’m gonna have to buy this. Love Raul.
September 14, 2015 @ 2:04 pm
I just love Whitney Rose so much & I’m happy to see her getting some recognition down south. While our mainstream scene is almost as bad as yours, there’s a solid offbeat country scene where some high quality music is being created.
Corb Lund, Daniel Romano, Lindi Ortega, Ridley Bent, Dustin Bentall… Lots of great music up here.