“Neighbourhood Social Scene”

I admit I was initially lukewarm on the concept behind The Happiness Project, the first solo album by Broken Social Scene- and Do Make Say Think-founder Charles Spearin. After having heard the first available sample “Mrs. Morris” (which, in retrospect, is more than “just an intro track”), I was ready to pass on the album entirely. But thank God I didn’t, because Charles Spearin offers a surprisingly mellifluous and successful experiment in re-contextualizing the tones of every-day speech.

Spearin derives most of The Happiness Project’s melodies from the rhythms of every day speech which he found in interviews he conducted with several of his neighbours ranging from children to the elderly (the interviews were loosely based on the subject of happiness; hence the album’s title). The dependence on spoken rhythms for melodies leads to some rather unpredictable and unique melodies and interludes. Eventually, the “lyrics” start to blend with the music and begin to sound like they are sung, even though it is the spoken words that dictate the time changes and melodies rather than vice-versa (hear the choral lyrics “It’s like they don’t ask beyond of what’s present” in “Anna”). Refreshingly, Spearin avoids the tediously long, droning ambience of too many experimental albums. Quite oppositely, with a mere run-time of thirty-one minutes, forty-nine seconds, The Happiness Project is an ideal album for quick, repeated listens.

The most satisfying aspect of The Happiness Project is that despite contributions from Kevin Drew, Evan Cranley and Justin Small, the album does not sound like any of their other projects (Broken Social Scene, Stars and Do Make Say Think, respectively). The only exception is “Mr. Gowrie” which recalls the more ambient moments on Broken Social Scene’s Feel Good Lost and B-sides collection Bee Hives. Nor are Spearin’s own contributions to his other projects immediately clear on The Happiness Project, an accomplishment which eluded both Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning on their respective solo albums (or perhaps an accomplishment which neither artist endeavoured to achieve). For creating an album that is distinctly Charles Spearin, and, most importantly, for taking on and delivering with such perfection a concept as original as the one behind The Happiness Project, Charles Spearin deserves to be commended, especially during a time when experimentation and creating an individual artistic identity have become increasingly difficult.