SONGWRITER MYK GORDON AND STEVE BERLIN PRODUCE MAGIC
There are moments in the making of certain albums where everyone in the room knows they have just experienced something transcendent. Welcome to Myk Gordon’s new album, SET FREE.
For singer-songwriter Myk Gordon and veteran and multiple Grammy-winning producer Steve Berlin of Los Lobos the magic in their recent musical collaboration is the result of a winning combination of stellar songwriting, unbeatable supporting talent, and irrepressible vision. The resulting work is a contemporary and complex alchemy of rhythm and blues, soul, and country elements, delivered in a thoughtful package of introspective storytelling.
“The whole project has been amazing,”€says Berlin. “It’s certainly been one of the best I can remember, in terms of everyone coming together, capturing the moment, getting great performances quickly. Everyone brought their A game to the process. Right from the very first moment it was magical. I couldn’t be happier with every single aspect of the whole deal.”
In an abandoned Masonic temple in North Portland, Gordon, Berlin, engineer/bassist Jim Brunberg (Box Set), guitarist Paul Rigby (Neko Case, Calexico, New Pornographers, Jakob Dylan) and pedal steel player Jon Rauhouse, and drummer Drew Shoals (Train) put their considerable creative prowess to work on 10 tracks for Myk’s newest album, SET FREE. What emerged, is a modern album imbued with the ethereal, timeless and haunting beauty of the aging and mysterious building itself. Berlin, the multiple Grammy-winning producer and sax/keyboard player in Los Lobos, chose from 40 of Myk’s original songs to help shape an album whose strong appeal lies in its lyrical vulnerability, moody sensuality and groove-laden sounds.
It is no small feat attracting a sought-after producer of Berlin’s caliber, the credit for which goes to Gordon’s tightly crafted song structures and hypnotic melodies. The band and ensuing performances and recording came and went from the historic building like a pack of hungry ghosts, leaving echoes of love, loss and inner reflection like a soulful cry in the darkness.
Gordon, who hails from Vancouver, B.C., has built an enviable reputation over a career spanning three decades for having “a steady hand when mixing pop, folk, emotion and intelligence”(Toronto Star). He is an “accomplished performer” (TimeOut, London) and has shared stages with artists including Emmylou Harris, Ron Sexsmith and Joan Osborne.