While it was a strange serendipity and the the mysterious appearance of his business card in my pocket that led to my discovery of Vancouver songwriter Jordan Klassen it was ultimately one that scratched a much needed itch for more intricately crafted chamber pop. While he's most recently been touring around his 2013 full length Repentance, next month sees the release of brand new single "Firing Squad".
On "Firing Squad", Klassen is switching things up quite a bit as he puts his subtle chamber folk flourishes on the back burner in favor of a much more pop-oriented sound. It's an exercise in ebb and flow as Klassen allows his normally gentle whisper to rise to a jarring shout to the sound of a shaker and some groovy sauntering melodies. The normal delicacy in layering is still present however, resulting in Klassen pairing together an interesting mesh of sounds to form what essentially amounts to background noise. That's doesn't reflect on it's construction, merely Klassen's delivery is so oddly confrontational that it's practically the only thing you can focus on despite the evident care Klassen's given to the song's composition.
It remains to be seen whether Klassen will continue in this more ferocious, rock-edged pop vein or if this is just a one-off single meant to keep his creative juices flowing but it firmly illustrates Klassen's pop literacy in a way that his previous works only hinted at before.
Jordan Klassen's "Firing Squad" single is out November 18th and will be paired with a cover of HAIM's "Falling".
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