Given and Taken in Ink

Review: Zaac Pick, Whitewater EP [2011]

Zaac Pick is an emerging talent in the Canadian indie-folk scene.  Former guitarist of the indie rock group Doubting Paris, Pick first earned critical acclaim as a solo artist for his 2009 debut EP, Fierce Wind, including the top selection in Vancouver's Shore 104FM Song Search, as well as spots in various television shows.  Now, after two years of touring (including a double header at SXSW this year), he has released a new four-track EP, Whitewater.

Whitewater shows off Pick's knack for melody, pairing his warm, expressive voice with layers of guitar, piano, strings, and percussion.  Each of these four songs seem to revolve around central theme of time, either in adapting to its impermanence or in appreciating the things that endure in spite of it.  The title track, a cautionary tale about the unpredictability of life, opens with just vocals and finger-picked guitar before slowly adding layers of percussion, mandolin, and violin.  The video for "Whitewater" is absolutely brilliant, too.  With cardboard sailboats for characters, it's charming and heartbreaking in a way few music videos even attempt anymore.

Adding slide guitar to the mix, Pick ventures into alt. country on "Out of Fashion" and "Heavy." And on "Modern Times," layers of guitars, violin, and cello cradle Pick's vocals while he sings a stirring lamentation of self-doubt: "Older now, but I’ve got no plan / please forgive me for I know not who I am / just an empty faded vision of a shadow of a man I knew."

Fans of Josh Ritter, Ray LaMontagne, and Joe Purdy should love Zaac Pick.

My only disappointment with Whitewater is that it ends far too soon, but thankfully Pick will be working on a full-length record in 2012.  And my wife, whose standards are so high she doesn't seem to like anything, says "Whitewater" is her favorite song of 2011.  It's near the top of my list, too.

Check out all of Pick's music, including the Whitewater EP, here.

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