Whitehorse

Last week saw the impressive London debut of Canadian alt-country/roots rock duo Whitehorse – that’s real-life couple Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet for you novices out there.

While both Melissa and Luke are respected artists in their own right, it’s their latest incarnation as Whitehorse that’s bound to earn them additional acclaim. If the critics of their recent debut album are anything to go by, I’m not far off the mark. And if the audience’s enthusiastic reaction at last week’s live performance at The Slaughtered Lamb is anything to go by, then I’m definitely not far off the mark!

Still jetlagged from their transatlantic flight but otherwise in high spirits, Melissa and Luke stood in the tiny corner stage, surrounded by various guitars, loop peddle, phone receivers taped to their mic-stands (not seen that one before), stomp box, keyboards and other gadgets. It was somewhat of a bewildering sight, for it almost seemed like the instruments dominated the frames of Luke and his wife Melissa. There is no doubt the two know their tools of the trade well!

The duo kicked off with the dramatic ‘Killing Time Is Murder’, a song that’s also on their current album. In fact, throughout the evening’s repertoire the songs performed were a mixture of numbers from their current album, as well as older and individual compositions. A few beats in, however, they lost their rhythm and had to start again. “We’re still so jetlagged”, joked Melissa, though of course they weren’t really joking. The second time ‘round, they both fared smooth and played ‘Killing Time’ to near perfection.

Next they performed ‘Glenrio’, which is one of Melissa’s songs - delivering their great signature vocal teamwork and instilling the number with some bluesy-country twang.
‘Cleveland’, in turn, was one of Luke’s earlier songs and was also named by Nick Hornby as one of the top ten songs in 2008. It sounded quite rocking and that’s no surprise, given Luke’s status as a bona fide roots rocker. The pair also changed guitars mid-song while one or the other musician played on to keep the song going, though I found this a bit distractive. Just like the phone-receivers taped on the mic-stands, I’ve never seen anything like that during a live performance either. Switching instruments before a song, yes. But halfway through? Well it did sound impressive, though the first quarter of Whitehorse’s show seemed consumed by experimenting and goofing about with various sounds from various instruments – much to the amusement of the audience (predictably, quite a few Canadians amongst them). Equally on a heavy-guitar driven path was ‘Monkeys’ from Luke’s 2012 album ‘Steel City Trawler’, on which Luke showed off with his white Gretsch.

Before he started on the first chords of ‘Emerald Island’, Luke mentioned some relatives with Irish roots but who never actually been to Ireland. It’s a fine song with plenty of soul and emotion, and great lyrics were contrastingly delivered by Melissa’s soft voice and Luke’s moodier, more robust rock voice: “I wait on the Emerald Isle for you to come and rescue me / Cos I’ve been on the road for one day too long /can’t hear the record for another sad song / I wanna go home”.

Then followed one of the best cover-versions ever and I probably get shot for saying it, but Whitehorse’s version of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘I’m On Fire’ is simply superior! Hauntingly beautiful, with Melissa’s heartfelt vocals layering even more passion over Luke’s words of burning desire.

The strongly country-hued ‘Broken’ was another crowd-pleaser, despite its topic of a break-up. The right mixture of more uplifting poppy sounds combined with distinctive country gave this the right balance, and Melissa’s and Luke’s harmonious vocal teamwork did the rest.
‘Mitzi’s’ was a nostalgic musical compliment dedicated to a coffee- and food joint in Manitoba’s Parkdale area, while another trip down memory lane was Melissa’s song ‘When The Lights Went Off In Hogtown’. As she explained to the audience, she’d written the song several years ago to immortalize the 2003 Toronto blackout, and promptly performed it with all the lights turned off in the venue! The audience loved it!

One of my favourites (also to be found on the Whitehorse debut album) is ‘Passenger 24’, a rocking number with a protruding guitar sound. Melissa delivered it with a very powerful, almost sultry voice (occasionally bursting into a holler) while Luke’s vocals remained in the background, instead concentrating on his riff work.

The second cover version was a song by Randy Newman called ‘Dayton, Ohio 1903’ – an almost whimsical number (stripped off any unnecessary instrumental accompaniment) about a lazy Dayton Sunday afternoon drinking tea, in 1903. Melissa and Luke had fun with this one.
Great lyrics (well, Whitehorse songs always have them galore) were belted out by the duo during ‘Long Haul Driver’ – a song that seems to sum up the lack of time so typical of modern relationships: “I am a long haul driver and I'm leaving at dawn / I don't think that I will see you / so I'll leave the porchlight on / I know you land at 8 o'clock but I'll be gone by 5 / So I'll be waving out the window as I pass the airplane by.”

For two people suffering from jetlag, Melissa and Luke sure gave their darn best during their London debut; in fact, they gave even more for they threw in an encore too. First one was the Tom Waits cover ‘Gun Street Girl’ which here had a totally shifted dynamic – with Luke’s voice sounding less gravely than Waits’ and with Melissa providing the more gentle touch. Final number was ‘Mexico Texaco’, a moody song that was the musical equivalent of a romantic road movie.
If this is what Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet sound like when jetlagged, then I can’t wait to find out what they might sound like when they aren’t! Hope to see you again soon on British shores, guys!