Kelsey Arsenault’s Gallery Walls

Album Name: Gallery Walls
Artist/Band: Kelsey Arsenault
Release: October 15, 2023
Genre: Singer/Songwriter
Media: Compact Disc, Digital

Full disclosure: Kelsey and I know each other. We’re both from the same stretch of about ten communities on the southern side of the Southern Shore region of the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland & Labrador, attended the same school system, and once I delved into the creative realm as an author, our paths seemed to cross constantly at fairs, markets and elsewhere. Despite this, I offer this review in earnest of her work and without bias. With that said, let’s get into it.

Music plays a big part in my life. It seems there’s not a moment that I don’t have a song of some sort in my head, I’m a guitarist and I like to sing (although I’m middling at either on my best night) and I never write a word of fiction without music in the background to help set a given scene. I used to be a major metalhead, and if you saw me in high school, it was not without a Metallica, Megadeth, Black Sabbath, or Iron Maiden T-shirt. It was basically my personality for those few years. But before I ever heard James Hetfield let out one of his big guttural roars over a Kirk Hammett solo, one of my earliest musical influences was Neil Young, thanks to my mom. Artists like Young, and Gordon Lightfoot, and a few others shaped my musical tastes as a child. As I grew into an adult, I started paying more attention to the grunge bands of the 90’s, whom themselves were largely influenced by Neil Young and his contemporaries. It seemed that grunge and alternative was where I was destined to stay, with metal moving more to the periphery.

Then I was introduced to City & Colour in 2011 by my friend and editor Stacey, and that started me down a whole other journey that brought me right back around to my early influences. You see, City & Colour, from Dallas Green (originally from Alexisonfire) is indeed labelled as alternative, but it’s less like Our Lady Peace and more like a Neil Young for the millennial generation. He’s become my clear favourite, and is in constant rotation on my playlist. Discovering (with Stacey’s help) many of Green’s musical contemporaries led to appreciation for the likes of Glen Hansard, Avi Kaplan, Passenger, and Kathleen Edwards. They tend to occupy a whole other genre though, typically referred to as singer/songwriter, and I’ve since come to find a deep groove there that’s taken root every bit as tightly as grunge and alternative.

Through these artists, I’ve taken a trip backwards, finding my way to the songwriters that influenced them, like Joni Mitchell, Jim Croce, Bob Dylan (or rather, just more of Bob Dylan), Bill Withers, Simon & Garfunkel, Cat Stevens, and Johnny Cash. It’s been a rewarding trek, to say the least.

Locally, I’ve been out of the loop, though. I liked Catcher when they existed, and Fairgale are amazing, but otherwise, I can’t tell you much of what’s going on around Newfoundland & Labrador’s alternative scene. Especially since The Scope stopped producing weekly news print in 2013. (I can’t believe it’s been a decade since The Scope ended either). Shameful, I know, but hopefully Kelsey Arsenault’s first CD will be the starting point of a new musical journey into the burgeoning scene right here in our own province.

Kelsey’s been a performing musician for quite a few years now, being a regular of the stage from St. John’s to Fermeuse and beyond. Usually it’s in tandem with her friend Katie Barbour, and the two are without hyperbole the most all-around talented players in this generation’s musical talent pool here on the Southern Shore. It wasn’t until 2023 though, that Kelsey finally put that work into an album, and if it’s felt like a wait to any of her fans, it’s one that was well worth it.

Kelsey’s freshman effort is titled Gallery Walls, named for the first of eight tracks on the album. I was eager to see what she and her band had come up with, as from what I had heard of her performances, I knew it was going to be good. I just had no idea how good. See, usually, a band or performer’s first CD tends to be a bit rough around the edges. It might lack polish in the editing stages for a variety of reasons, or like every creative, it’s a growth journey, and they get better and more confident with time. Think of The Tragically Hip, for instance. Their self-titled first album compared to later releases like Road Apples, Fully Completely, and Up To Here, seems to be missing something. You can tell the musicianship is there. The songs are well written and all hands have the chops for it, so to speak. Yet, their later work seems to capture their abilities in a way that perhaps they themselves couldn’t at first. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a fantastic album, but there was still a fair bit of work that had to be done before they became The Hip that Canada came to love as icons.

Gallery Walls seems to have skipped all that. This is Kelsey’s first album, but it doesn’t sound like what you’d expect a debut to sound like. No, it sounds more as though it’s coming from a band that’s hit its full stride. Kelsey, her band, and the production team, all knew exactly what they were doing, and what they wanted to get out of this album. At least, it sounds that way, and if they doubted themselves at any point, it never once shows. It brings to mind Kathleen Edwards’ Voyageur and Gordon Lightfoot’s Sit Down Young Stranger, albums by artists who had found themselves as much as anyone can as musicians and felt comfortable in baring their souls for all to hear.

It’s safe to say I was blown away. It’s not just good, like I was expecting, it’s fantastic.

At eight tracks, the longest of which tops out at 4:55, it’s a brisk album. Interestingly, it seems to have been ideally made for the old eight-track cassettes, a music format that was obsolete before Kelsey was even born. I’m not trying to take anything away with that comment; on the contrary, I think less is more. Kelsey and her band clearly focused on making not just a standard album, but a wholly complete album. Think of how many bands, upon entering the pop culture, pushed albums that had two or three songs that were promoted as the hits, and a remaining album that was largely filler or material for the die-hards. With Gallery Walls, the entire track list stands out as potential hits in their own right. I don’t know that I could pick any one or two songs as the clear “singles” so to speak, and I think to do so would not do justice to Gallery Walls as an album. It needs to be heard in full to appreciate.

Like myself, Kelsey is a Newfoundlander, and as such, it’s impossible for us not to draw influence and inspiration from our home. Though I’m a fantasy writer, and The Gold & Steel Saga is set in its own contained world, my origins bleed through for anyone from the province to pick out; with certain phrases, mannerisms, and iconography that I couldn’t help myself but to include. Kelsey is no different. It’s who we are. There’s the obvious nod to Bannerman Park in one song aptly titled Bannerman Grass. She makes mention of the Village Mall and it’s famous (and now sadly retired) fountain (both locations are in St. John’s). However, it’s more than that. Kelsey and her band sprinkle the songs with instruments and musical motifs that are familiar to any Newfoundlander. Grace includes a beautiful accordion melody, Little Sparrow features a violin, or fiddle, as we’d say, and it’s played in a style that certainly evokes fiddling as Newfoundlander’s have come to know it. A mandolin surfaces in Eastern Time, another staple instrument of Newfoundland music. All of it is used in a nod to Kelsey’s roots in an understated and subtle manner.

Vocally, Kelsey is wonderful. I feel like she could belt out a Celine-Dion-style power ballad if she so chose, but to go back to what I said when talking about the track quantity, she knows that less is often more. She uses her voice marvellously, and puts exactly as much of her vocal prowess into any one word she sings as that word calls for. I love that in a singer, when every word seems to be measured for how much of oneself to put into it. Again, this is her first album.  

I was thinking I’d wrap up this review by picking my favourites from the songs, but I don’t know that I can. At first I was thinking Volcano, with all its gravity, but I like the old school, lounge singer vibe of Branches too. Grace has a beautiful nostalgia to it. Crimes and Eastern Time are both their own separate journeys, and aren’t to be missed. Bannerman Grass gives me Evanescence vibes (that’s a good thing). The title track pulls you in from the first note, and my foot involuntarily taps along with Little Sparrow. I just riddled off the entire album right there without picking any one favourite. It’s a start-to-finish album, truly. If my iTunes play count is the judge, then Crimes wins, but only by a hair.

As I keep stating in awe, this is Kelsey Arsenault’s debut album. I’m so excited to see where her own musical journey goes from here. If Gallery Walls is any indication, Kelsey will be sharing stages with the Glen Hansard’s and Maria Taylor’s of the world before too long. As for you, the readers, don’t sleep on this album. If you like any of the artists and bands I mentioned above, you’ll like Kelsey Arsenault’s Gallery Walls. It’d be a great gift for music lovers in your life this holiday season. Dare I say that Swifties would certainly enjoy Kelsey’s work while they’re waiting for the next Taylor’s Version of her back catalogue.

If it isn’t obvious at this point, I give the album Gallery Walls by Kelsey Arsenault full recommendation. You can find it on iTunes, or for sale at a variety of music stores such as Fred’s Records in downtown St. John’s.

You can also find Kelsey’s Link Tree right here for all the latest ways to keep up with her music.

If you enjoy supporting local, as I mentioned above, I’m an author in the fantasy genre. Click on any of the book covers below to be taken right to the links to my books on Amazon. The best way to support any local author is with reviews. They don’t have to be as wordy as mine. One or two sentences and a star rating is all I ask.