Maggie Fraser- The Way That I Wish It Was review

Maggie Fraser The Way That I Wish It Was MaggieFraserMusic.com

Before one can express their own words, they need to listen. I suspect Toronto’s Maggie Fraser is a very acute listener.

The songs on her debut album The Way That I Wish It Was display keen details, the type one acquires through a life of observing and attending to the thoughts of others.

Husband and musical companion Alec Fraser produced these ten songs from an artist I had never previously encountered. Her songs have been recorded by others, notably fifteen years ago when Colleen Hodgson chose to create an album of Fraser songs, Songs of Maggie.

I hear echoes of Virginia Astley, Kate Bush, and The McGarrigles, but also Lucinda Williams (most strongly in Fraser’s melodic phrasing on songs like “After the Loving,” co-written with Alec) and Maria Dunn via the meticulous attention to lyrical and instrumental detail evidenced throughout the recording.

Standout tracks that would fit on most folk and less-aggressive Americana playlists include the deceptively-snappy “Wild Black Dogs” (with additional guitar from Chris Staig,) the dramatic “Beautiful Masquerade,” and spirited waltz “Loneliest Creature in the World.”

“Your ghost smiling at me from your favourite chair,” Fraser sings within the atmospheric and memorable “Your Ghost,” a song that refuses to allow regret to niggle at memory. It’s a favourite, as is “After the Loving”—“…only the river seems to know.”

Structurally, each song features Maggie’s voice with Alec handling various basses. She also plays acoustic guitar selectively while Alec jumps in with other guitars, as well as a bit of keyboards, some percussion, and backing vocals.

Various guests contribute, often only a single augmentation per, leaving the songs open and intimate. Hodgson sings with Fraser on a couple numbers, “The Cornfield” and the title track, providing additional texture. Others including Rich Roxborough (piano and keys) and Denis Keldie (accordion and keys, including Wurlitzer on “Wild Black Dogs”) add tasteful bits, with James McKie (mandolin and bodhrán) giving a bit of European feel to “Our Little Canoe.”

Chris Bartos’ fiddle and pedal steel on “The Cornfield” is notable. “The Cornfield” is the song to which I continually return, a bit country, but more—here as in select places there is a little 80s post-wave pop influence that I appreciate. Margo Timmins, that’s it. That’s the comparison I couldn’t quite crystalize. Quite lovely.

It isn’t unusual for us to be pleasantly surprised by the initial encounter of new talents—even Canadian ones, given the broad expanse of our country—allowing the disconnect that continues to exist even within our 24/7 online existence. Still, it is a bit jarring to realize how easily it would have been for this little gem of an album from Maggie Fraser to slip past me. Glad it didn’t as it is worth our attention.