Eric Chenaux’s fourth solo album Guitar & Voice is not typical of the work Record Dept usually reviews, but his is an intriguing experiment that succeeds on many levels. The former member of the Toronto punk band Phleg Camp has long explored many facets of experimentalism, here plying a nylon-stringed electric guitar with a bow to render ballads where melodies drift in and out. Four longer vocal led singles alternate with five shorter instrumentals which possess an improvisational quality resonant with jazz, as Chenaux plays with and through the dissonance. Chenaux’s labored process of re-amplfying and re-recording the bowed guitar results in a seeming symphony of strings – banjo, bass, guitar and piano – a soundscape that makes Guitar & Voice a must-listen. – Written by SMarx
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