“Roll” was recorded and mixed by Bywater drummer Bruce McCarthy at his studio, The BeatFarm, in Toronto. It was released on April 19th. “This song, through the stories of three ordinary people, speaks to the curve balls thrown at us all in the game of life,” says Bywater Call’s singer, Megan Parnell. “The lesson is that you have to hold your head up and just keep moving forward.”
Featuring a signature bass line played by Mike Meusel and conceived by keyboard player John Kervin, who throws in his own tasteful organ lick, the original inspiration for “Roll” was an old James Carr R&B tune, “The Dark End of the Street.” The song, however, quickly took on a life of it’s own.
Throw in the classic soul of Otis Redding, the American rootsiness of the Wood Brothers, a little humour and quirk, mainly supplied by drummer Bruce McCarthy’s percussion, some twangy resonator and fiery slide guitar from Dave Barnes, and sultry vocals from Meghan Parnell, and then top it all off with the unforgettable horn section of Julian Nalli (sax) and Stephen Dyte (trumpet) and a gospel-inspired build that will have us all celebrating our resilience; out comes “Roll.”.
My Review of the Single:
“Roll” has a certain jazz feel; the vocals have a real lazy Sunday evening touch, almost spoken in places. I love this band musically; they are very interesting, experimental and multi-faceted. The single sets a definite quality marker for the upcoming album, which I’m already excited about. It has this vocal-only repetition at the end too, which ends the track with a kick rather than a fadeaway. Musically, there is so much there, I enjoyed the piano, which was subtle and infused with that feel for the moment. It’s one of those, I’d say, get out and stream folks, and while you are there, listen to some of their other music too. They are heading to the UK at the end of 2024, and I’m hoping the magazine can get to one of the gigs and do a report for you all. In the interim, I’ve pegged our talk to the guys last year in a link below.
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You can stream the single here
By Stevie Ritson