The Maze
Socan, 2019
9/10
An award winning Canadian songstress, Ariana Gillis has persevered through a serious accident to record this 3rd album with some Nashville talent and even legend Buddy Miller handling producer duties as well as playing on the record.
“Dirt Gets Dirty” starts the album with Gillis’ expressive and rich vocals and stays calm with a warm Americana spirit, and “The Maze” follows and brings pedal steel to her strong pipes on the pretty balladry.
An album with plenty of forthright wordplay, “The Feeling Of Empty” is an honest tune with much attention to detail, while “Rock it Like Fantastic” shows incredible vocal range in a pop influenced country rocker.
The back half of the listen offers us the lush, banjo fueled “White Blush”, the upbeat pop friendly “Slow Motion Killer”, and the sparse, lullabye-esque “You Don’t Even Know My Name”. The albums on the hazy beauty of “Dream Street”, which puts the exclamation point on this really intimate and highly articulate listen.
The Maze was recorded live with few overdubs and contains a vibrant energy that truly illustrates the depth of this young talent. If Ariana Gillis was in search of worldwide fame, well, it certainly seems attainable when you can write songs this sincere, touching and memorable.
Travels well with: Patty Griffin-American Kid; Bright Eyes- I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning