Reflecting on The Unintended, a wonderful and well-kept secret

After listening to Eric’s Trip for my recent Top 20 Canadian Albums post (https://songsuneedtohear.wordpress.com/2017/01/07/here-now-whats-your-all-time-top-20-canadian-albums/), then also to Elevator for the more recent – and quite long 🙂 – post about Rick White & Julie Doiron’s music (https://songsuneedtohear.wordpress.com/2017/02/26/erics-trip-the-charming-indie-queen-julie-doiron-and-the-legendary-yet-underrated-rick-white/), I naturally ended up listening to one of Canada’s best-kept secrets : The Unintended. And at that point, I was totally ready for this dreamy psychedelic-folk-rock band. Spoiler alert : when I update my Top 20 Canadian Albums list, I’ll most certainly find a place for this little gem.

But let’s go back a bit, back in 1997, when lo-fi garage band Eric’s Trip had disbanded, and its former leader Rick White was working wholeheartedly on his second major project, the wonderfully haunting psych-rock band Elevator.

At an Elevator show, Dallas Good of country-folk-rock group The Sadies came up to White. They talked about their musical influences and quickly became friends. Good played guitar live with Elevator and later contributed to the band’s records starting in 2002 with Darkness – Light. White also provided lyrics for a few songs recorded by The Sadies over the years.

In 2004, a mysterious album that seemed to appear out of the mist was released, an eponym LP by the band The Unintended. This atmospheric album brings together Rick White, Dallas Good and the three other members of The Sadies, as well as Greg Keelor of Blue Rodeo. They convened at Keelor’s farm to record the songs in just a few days, in a very natural manner it seems. Rick White writes and sings most if not all of the songs, and the others members (especially Good) bring their musical ear to create the desired sound. White’s wispered vocals and creative influence are all over this album, his personal “demons” are poetically exposed through the lyrics as always (and the music is very Elevator-esque), but The Sadies’ solid contribution brings great strenght to the album (kudos to Mike Belitsky on the drums!). Some songs on this record stood out right away for me (Angel, for example). But like many masterpieces, the overall product grows on you with time, slowly but surely (and these days, my favorite song is the wonderful No Curse of Time).

Aside from some Gordon Lightfoot cover songs they made together a few years later, this album is their one and only, and it makes this record even more special, like a precious (unintended?) moment in time.

The Unintended members went on to work on their own projects. White kept making interesting albums including a few Elevator records with Good before the band broke up, his three solo records and many collaborations. The Sadies released some great stuff (like the New Seasons album that I had the pleasure of listening to recently), and Greg Keelor kept on making albums with Blue Rodeo and other artists.

And now, should we wait for the next incarnation of The Unintended?

Well, it appears that one of the main inspirations behind The Unintended, White, has voluntarily withdrawn from music (and people, in a way), moved far into the countryside to live a life as little anxiety-inducing as possible.

The first song from The Sadies’ 2016 release Northern Passages, written by Dallas Good, is dedicated to his reclusive old friend. Riverview fog is also, I think, an homage to their collaboration, because many songs from The Unintended CD are referenced here in the lyrics (stay calm, quiet getaway, no curse of time, …). We can definitely feel Good’s caring feelings and his respect for White’s choice of creating art away from it all, yet there’s this unescapable worry and longing for lost days of togetherness and shared creativity. I have myself often reflected on how we litterally force ourselves to live in an alienating stressful environment with crazy and artificial expectations (appropriate for machines perhaps, not humans), and fantasized about dropping it all to live somewhere deep in the woods or on a endless flowery field. I have many friends who struggled with mental illness and had to withdraw, so I can definitely relate to this melancholic song of unconditional friendship. BTW, the rest of the album is also great.

I wish White – and all creative people struggling with our less than healthy lifestyle – rest and inspiration. And thanks in advance, because perhaps that’s how our collective wisdom will be renewed. It’s not doing so great right now.

Monet found great joy in painting his garden following the changing seasons. Even the tempestuous Rousseau found his exile less painful by allowing himself to explore his growing interest in botany (see Les Rêveries du promeneur solitaire). Being on vacation right now, I enjoy sitting with my book and glass of wine under the tall tree in my backyard, watching leaves being pushed around gently by the wind and the faint ray of sunlight trying to make its way through. Surely, I’ll get inspired too.

Have a nice peaceful one, everyone!