DAN MANGAN
with Guests Rural Alberta Advantage
Once a mere fresh faced folk singer from Vancouver, Canada, Dan Mangan now stands at
the world’s doorstep. The evolution of Mangan’s music is instinctively in line with its breadth
and sincerity. As his art has developed, so has the story behind its constant and exponential
proliferation.
The proof is in the countless European jaunts. U.S. tours with The Walkmen, Decemberists
and Okkervil River. The two performances at Glastonbury. Multiple trips to Australia. NPR
features, endless critical acclaim. Sold out theatres across Canada.
The 2010 Polaris Music Prize short list nomination for his sophomore album Nice, Nice Very
Nice capped a stellar year in which Dan won iTunes Album of the Year in the singer
songwriter category, a trio of CBC awards and was named XM The Verge Artist of the Year.
Mangan and his band experienced life-changing door openings, new challenges and
wonderful opportunities across the globe. Indeed, Dan’s musical passport now bears stamps
from places - figurative and literal - many artists will never visit.
And so he arrived at the challenge of a new record. Oh Fortune, which itself arrives
September 27 on Arts & Crafts, is a far more ambitious offering than its predecessor. A rich,
textured, indie- folk(ish) statement that explores the genre’s boundaries with great influence
from his band, which pushed Dan beyond his comfort zone sonically, even as he dug deeper
within himself.
“The sound has been stretched in different directions by the players and how they've warped
my mind over the last few years,” Dan admits, adding, “I always simply aimed to surround
myself with people who were creatively inspiring.”
These players include free-jazz experimentalists Gord Grdina (guitar), Kenton Loewen
(drums) and the inimitable John Walsh (bass), as well as a near orchestra that helped shape
the production. There was also a ringer call to Seattle’s Eyvind Kang (Bill Frisell, Beck, Mike
Patton, Marc Ribot) who helped write the lush arrangements on Oh Fortune.
“And yet with all of this amazing musical influence, I feel like lyrically and song-wise it's more
me than anything I've ever done.”
Produced by Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Cave Singers) at The Hive in Vancouver, Oh
Fortune still shines with those key Mangan components - the gravelly voice, that basic
human element - but this time, it comes with a more mature perspective on creative
intuitiveness that can only come from years of teeth-cutting.
“The last record did far more than I or anyone else thought it would… I felt like we stumbled accident onto something that people liked. I feel now that if we tried to recreate something
that already worked, I wouldn’t like it… and then they wouldn’t like it either,” Dan muses, “it
has to be sincere, and relevant, and whatever we’re feeling right now.”
That sentiment is mirrored on Oh Fortune tracks like its closer, “Jeopardy,” which addresses
social borders and the walls we build, both real and imagined.
Written on the road, where Dan lived for the majority of the last three years, these new songs
tackle bold new subject matter, playing on themes of societal manipulation, soldier shellshock
and urban sprawl with tracks like “How Darwinian,” “Rows Of Houses” and “Post War Blues.”
Currents of mortality, isolation, and desperation run through the album, and yet its title comes
from Dan’s reflection of a ticker-tape parade celebrating the return of Gertrude Ederle to the
United States in 1926. For a heartbeat, she was the country’s biggest celebrity. She had just
become the first woman to swim the English Channel, and simultaneously the new worldrecord holder (previously held by a man).
There exists in Oh Fortune this chaos of juxtaposition. It could be taken as a sad or dark
album, yet musically it kicks with more ferocity and tenacity than people may expect from
Mangan. It debates melancholy while it anticipates incredible moments of glory and victory.
It’s not sad, it’s simply honest. Life is just that.
The result is an album void of predictability, that is distinctively Dan Mangan, infused with his
wit and personality, yet completely distinguished from everything prior. Simply stated, Oh
Fortune makes good on the promise of every song Dan’s ever written, while setting a new
standard for every song he’s yet to write.
To be sure, this release marks the arrival of a new voice, with world-class charm and a
universal appeal. Oh fortune, indeed.