The Blaze Velluto Collection - Weatherman
Recorded over an eight year period (2008 - 2016) with 15 different collaborators (hence the word Collection in the band name), Weatherman was self-released in the spring of 2017 but has now found a new home at Dare To Care Records and is getting a 2018 re-release. While that many years and different personnel could have a negative effect on the cohesiveness of an album, for this particular artist it seems to have done the opposite. The overall theme of the album seems to be the dangers of navigating romance with an open heart and why we still seek to find someone to fall in love with the knowledge that it could end in heartbreak, and as Blaze himself says, "sometimes, a heartbreak takes a long time to heal. Songs like “Majoram”, “Pondicherri”, “Flower Girl” and “Someone Has Got To Go” contemplate the pitfalls of love and give rise to the notion that love is a never-ending journey. This type of deep reflection requires a few years to resonate.
This isn’t to say that the whole album is some sappy tale, there are indeed happy moments. The psychedelic-bluegrass rave-up “Morning Dew” will put a pep in your step no matter how heartbroken you may be. It will help you remember that magic feeling of falling in love and how it makes everything illuminate around you. It’s a reminder to not shut off your heart, but to keep it open and let the magic find you again.
Another happy moment can be found in light hearted “We’re Gonna Take You Out”, an ode to walking your dog. It paints vivided images of the love between dogs their human companions. In my mind I saw Blaze strolling through Parc Lafontaine with his trusted canine, gathering a following weave their way along the path, strumming his guitar and singing this song at the top of his lungs.
The beautiful harmonies in many of the songs, the world-beat tinged “M. Coyote” and the Bossa Nova infused “Dingo Dingo” all add additional flavours that prevent the album from being just another psych-folk record about love and loss. It also makes it no surprise that Dare To Care came calling with a pen in hand to add this album to their roster.