By Rachel Braeuer
Image courtesy of Mary Rozzi

I do not envy Canadian musicians. Well, no, I do.
It’s just hard to imagine having actual talent and working as hard as they do only to achieve a small modicum of success while we, their countrywomen and men lose our shit because Ke$ha is coming to town.

This is definitely true for Serena Ryder, whose latest album, Harmony, is by far her best. Thankfully, she’s receiving more of the props she deserves for this one. While writing this, “Stompa” is sitting at #15 on iTunes top singles list, and the album itself is highlighted on the “trending now” page. If you’re interested in taking a listen, skip the overpriced latte twice and use the $9.99 you saved to just buy Harmony. You won’t be disappointed, and if you are I will literally buy you a latte, provided you can find The Peak office and personally show me a receipt.

In 2011, Ryder toured with Melissa Etheridge, and there is decidedly more Etheridge-like rasp on Harmony, maintaining a folksy undercurrent Ryder has become synonymous with. But in an un-folksy move, Harmony is an eclectic selection, ranging from bluegrass vocal harmony on “Nobody But You” to the sultry jazz ballad “For You”, and the pop-rock “Circle of the Sun.”
Ryder has a unique voice, somewhere between Janis Joplin’s rawness, Stevie Nicks’s presence and timbre, and Aretha Franklin’s range and power. The stylistic choices on this latest album are a mark of an artist who has found her sweet spot and who is demonstrating her arsenal of musical skills. Ryder is fantastic and maintains a coherent voice no matter which genre she’s singing.

If angst was the driving theme of Ryder’s earlier albums, joy certainly pervades Harmony. The songstress admits that this was “the first time that [she’d] written [while] in love.” Those hoping for the accusatory and frankness of Is It OK?’s “Little Bit of Red” might be disappointed. There’s a balance in thematic material with the lament “Please, Baby Please” and the piano ballad “Heavy Love”, but again, on previous albums these sentiments would have been set to folk-rock guitar riffs.

The variety in both genre and content makes Harmony much more personal than Ryder’s previous albums, something that more than makes up for the move away from folk-rock. Instead of trying to sing songs about love set to an edgy guitar, the freedom to sing and write the way she wanted really comes across. They were written in Ryder’s studio, a cozy space above her garage in Toronto that apparently has cedar shavings on the floor, intended to make it reminiscent of a sauna.

I don’t know if it was the pseudo-steamy change in writing location, Ryder and Harmony are hot. The honesty and emotion is palpable in an appealing way, and it’s nice to see a Canadian songstress flex her musical muscles and step away from the folk-fest stage for once.