Margo Timmins is one of just a handful of singers, alongside Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and the late Leonard Cohen, who consistently manage to take vulnerability and emotional rawness and translate it into powerfully moving records time and time again. “All That Reckoning,” the Canadian band’s latest, is certainly no exception.
It’s been several years since the group – boasting the same line up since their mid ‘80s founding, by the way – last put out a record of all new songs, but time has done nothing to dull the impact of their writing. In fact, lyrically, the group is writing some of their strongest songs and Timmins is even more confident as singer three decades since their breakthrough “Trinity Session” album came out. This LP opens with the dreamy title track, and keeps up a similar vibe throughout, perfectly complimenting her beautifully haunting vocals. It’s not hard to find traces of contemporary politics and the global move towards nationalism and xenophobia throughout the record on tracks like “The Things We Do to Each Other” and “When We Arrive.”
Though the Cowboy Junkies have consistently put out thoughtful, impressive records for decades now, “All That Reckoning” is their strongest in years.
Cowboy Junkies – All That Reckoning/11 tracks/Latent Recordings/2018 / Twitter