New Find: Bahamas
by
1/31/12
Written by Calvin Paradise.
As a minimalist and half-assed hopeless romantic, I have a real weakness for beautiful and concise pop songs. That's why at times it seems like Toronto-based badass Afie (pronounced AY-fee) Jurvanen is making music just for me. Under the incredibly difficult to Google moniker Bahamas, Jurvanen crafts effortlessly charming folk songs that can appeal to both hipsters and really anyone else with a pulse... whether he's putting a new spin on Wreckless Eric's classic "Whole Wide World" :
Or playing one of his own songs:
<iframesrc="http://player.vimeo.com/video/23757323?title=0&byline=0&portrait..." width="400" height="225" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen>
<p><a href="http://vimeo.com/23757323">BAHAMAS - Sunshine Blues</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/mitchfillion">Mitch Fillion (southernsouls.ca)</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Jurvanen's music has a timeless feel to it. I'm really not sure who wouldn't like this music, but I suspect people who have a vapid and soulless existence (possible hyperbole).
Bahamas second LP, Barchords, comes out February 7th on Brushfire Records. The first single of the record is the breezy break-up track "Caught Me Thinking."
I asked Afie over twitter about the process in which he made the new record:
"We recorded a lot live off the floor like Pink Strat but we spent a lot more time working on arrangements. So its a lot more vocal heavy... a lot more attention to melody."
Based on the early returns it seems that the process is paying its dividends.