Album Review: City & Colour - 'Bring Me Your Love'

I was discussing City & Colour with a friend of mine recently and he made a great point. When Dallas Green released Sometimes (his debut under the City & Colour moniker) it didn’t matter how amazing the ten tracks were, he was still seen as just another guy, from another band, releasing another collection of acoustic songs. With Bring Me Your Love, Dallas has taken a more stripped back approach to his song writing and has proven that his solo material is worthy of the praise it receives… without the aid of his previous musical accomplishments.

I’ll be honest, at first listen I was turned off by the album’s production. The vocals still sounded fantastic but the guitars had a lo-fi feel that didn’t match Dallas’ voice. After spending some time with Bring Me Your Love I’ve grown to love it, so much so that I’m unsure which City & Colour record is my favourite.

Anyone who picked up the City & Colour live album (or anyone else who spends too much time on YouTube) would already be familiar with “Forgive Me”. The track itself wouldn’t sound out of place on Sometimes so it was a wise decision to open the record with it. Although the additional instrumentation is quite low in the mix it gives “Confessions” a more layered sound than you’ll find on most C & C songs, Dallas’ varied phrasing making it one of the more dynamic acoustic tracks you’re going to hear this year.

The term folk gets thrown around a lot these days but I can’t think of a better description for “The Death Of Me”, an upbeat song about whiskey and tales of woe… a future single for sure. “Body In A Box” is another instance of Dallas trading in his introspective lyrics for something more akin to a story teller, the inclusion of a harmonica and a piano organ giving the song an edge that many singer/songwriters are lacking.

“Sleeping Sickness” starts off slow and brooding but quickly picks up the pace to give us one of the album’s most sing-a-able choruses. By the time “What Makes A Man” and “Waiting” have rolled around it’s becoming increasingly obvious that choosing a favourite song from Bring Me Your Love is going to be very difficult. The anthem like chorus of “Constant Knot” would be something to behold in the live setting while the raw and emotive “Against The Grain” slows things down without becoming boring.  

Although it’s a long way from being a bad song “The Girl” comes across as a little cheesy, something that “Sensible Heart” more than makes up for, leaving the brooding “As Much As I Ever Could” to bring the album to a close.