I need a garage. I need tools. I need a workbench that is both jagged and in desperate need of repair. I need overalls, covered in year’s worth of DIY oil changes. I need a golden retriever. His name is something simple like Floyd or Max. I need a radio, which only has one working speaker and a tape deck that chews on cassette tapes at random.

I need a light blue, 1970 Ford 100 pick up truck. There is some rust on the back right wheel well, and the muffler is a little loud, but otherwise, she runs like a beauty.

I need a beer. Nothing foreign and nothing in bottles. Hell, for what the amount of stuff I need to get done, I need a six pack. It needs to be a warm Saturday morning.

My fingernails should be dirty. My hands should be defined and scarred from decades of manual labour. For breakfast, I only need coffee.

Black coffee.

I need a cool wind coming into the shop. Not cold enough to close the window and door, but not warm enough to remove my blue sweatshirt. I need A.M. radio. I need to turn it on and hear “Lost (For As Long As I Live)” off of the new Daniel Romano record, Sleep Beneath The Willow, blasting from the speaker.

Certain songs and certain albums require specific circumstances in order for them to be truly appreciated. It’s one of those songs.

In fact, the whole record makes me long for a time I never had. I was born ten years too late, and yet, it evokes a feeling of universal familiarity within me. From the fantastic opener “Time Forgot (To Change My Heart)” to the sad sounds of “Louise”, this record is a testament to Romano’s growth as a songwriter. It would seem his transformation from punk rock to country-music singer is finally complete.

Yes, the record sounds fantastic blasting through your ipod speakers, but I don’t think that is how it was meant to be heard. Whether intentional or not, Romano has created a record that needs stereo, not 5.1. He created something that begs to be listened to in a room that has avocado-coloured sink and a small tube television which seems stuck on the local CBC affiliate.

By Scott Thomson
Apr 29, 2011