John Pippus - This City

By: David Ball

John Pippus
This City

(Indie)

SOUNDS LIKE: A terrific atmospheric folk debut from a fresh new artist who just happens to be pushing 60.

WHY/WHY NOT: Calling John Pippus a late bloomer would be a gross understatement. The Vancouver singer-songwriter was almost a teenager when The Beatles, one of his early idols, first broke-out in North America. And yet it’s only now, as he enters his late 50s, that Pippus has finally released his first full-length album, This City. But as he wistfully sings: "My life’s not over. No I’m not done yet". Let’s hope not, because this 13-track collection is a beautiful and intimate folk-roots gem.

Simple acoustic guitar-based arrangements succeed in underscoring self-reflective stories about love and life’s many journeys, drawing resolutions along the way. Pippus’s most powerful tool, however, is his earthy voice, tinged with melancholy and aching vulnerability, sounding occasionally like Warren Zevon did on his 2003 swansong. But the album isn’t a downer. "Oh Oh Oh" is a stirring duet about eternal love (with guest vocalist Nat Jay) while the tone of "Her Love’s A Mystery" is lighthearted as Pippus pines for a woman. The anti-urban folk blues title track could even lure a hellhound onto your trail. The only misstep is the socio-political folk-rap experiment: "Yes We Can". This City is contemporary, timeless and nearly perfect.