As far as song titles go, ‘The Last Good Day The Year’ couldn’t befit Cousteau’s sound any better. This enchanting single, like much of their albums Cousteau and Sirena, is an autumnal delight, brimming with Jacques Brel’s lilting melancholia, muted tones and, in a way, nostalgia for a summer that never really existed.
Last year, however, it all looked rather precarious in Camp Cousteau when Davey Ray Moore, the creative force behind the band’s first two albums, jumped ship, leaving the remaining band members to contend with songwriting duties...alone and for the first time.
Nova Scotia, then, is a somewhat curious offering, and opens with the upbeat, pounding ‘Sadness’, a disorienting number given the band’s penchant for sombre, dewy atmospherics. It’s also a surprise to find that ‘She’s Not Coming Back’ was actually written not about the rotting of an amorous relationship, but the media circus surrounding the death of Paula Yates.
Still, if the band’s remaining members felt tentative about writing the album, they sure have a funny way of not showing it. ‘Echoes’ is the type of lustrous, finespun balladry that is afforded plenty of impact through Liam McKahey’s sombre, Nick Cave-esque baritone, and the unsettling ‘Pia’ resonates with a not altogether unpleasant chill. ‘Happening’, meanwhile, is quietly confident, a gossamery moment of muted majesty.
In essence, Nova Scotia is a subdued, whispered joy. As strange as it may seem, it’ll make for perfect listening on these first few good days of the year.