Barenaked Ladies - Detour de Force [2LP/ 180G Ltd Ed Blue Vinyl]

Detour de Force is Barenaked Ladies at its most ambitious, accomplished, intricate, intentional - and, in some ways, circumstantial. Its gestation was long and exacerbated (as so many things have been) by the global pandemic. The good news is that it's BNL's most broad-reaching and diverse work to date - fusing the distinct writing voices of Robertson, Hearn and Creeggan into a cohesive work from the stand-out tracks "Flip," "New Disaster," and "Good Life," to the uptempo fun of "Flat Earth," the playful and country-flavored "Roll Out" to the gentle melodics of "Live Well," "The National Park," "God Forbid" and "Man Made Lake" to the sonic roller coaster of the album-closing

"Internal Dynamo."

The depth goes beyond sonics throughout the album. Though there's certainly the verbal playfulness and whimsy that's part of BNL's stock in trade, many of the songs have a reflective and philosophical, sometimes topical, underpinning that's also long been part of the BNL makeup.   "We've always liked that our band is very diverse in what we do," says Robertson, "and on this record I really enjoyed the exploration. This record is a journey. Taking off one song would tip it in a way we didn't feel was representative of the record we made. We wanted everything that's here to be part of the record." Adds Tyler Stewart, "This is some of our strongest material in 30 years, easily. I think it stands up there with our best albums. It hangs with Gordon, or it hangs with Maroon'" "We took several detours de force," acknowledges Kevin Hearn, "but I think what you get is a beautiful hybrid of a live off-the-floor band, all the way to full-on production numbers.' It's kind of reminiscent of Stunt."

Track Listing:

Side A

1. Flip
2. Good Life
3. New Disaster
4. Big Back Yard

Side B

5. Live Well
6. Flat Earth
7. Here Together
8. Roll Out

Side C

9. By Law
10. God Forbid
11. Paul Chambers
12. The National Park

Side D

13. Man Made Lake
14. Internal Dynamo
15. Way of the Heart (vinyl bonus track)