Tanya Davis

Recorded at Little BullHorn Studio in Ottawa over 10 hot days in May, Tanya's 3rd record, Clocks and Hearts Keep Going, speaks to the life and death of things, be it love, gods, or people. It is also a testament to candid language, her words taking centre stage, as they usually do. But, with Jim Bryson in the producer's chair this time around, the record shows, more than ever before, that Tanya is as accomplished a melody-maker as she is a lyricist.

From the charming and jangly opening ditty, Please Bless, to the sparse and hopeful final track, Fauna, listeners follow Tanya's soft but confidant electric guitar style and her low, warm voice through a weave of genre and theme. Organs swell, banjos roll, and horns call in a sonic landscape more robust than her previous two albums but still with the spaciousness and pause indicative of music that is more about journey than arriving. Ballad-esque numbers like One Room and Sad Secret give moments of thoughtful, if melancholic, reprieve; pop-infused Tra-la-la, full-bodied and charging, inspires a different sort of sing-a-long than the 3 part harmonies in the second verse of Sweep the Dust, a bass-heavy reflection (think: Lou Reed) on getting up and getting over. The beat leads in Eulogy for You and Me, a funky and poetic ode to the death of a relationship. Overall, the album's instrumentation is varied and warm, complementary to Tanya's honest lyrics and a vocal treatment full of presence and vulnerability.

Clocks and Hearts Keep Going, out November 2010, is an album that warrants a dedicated listen. And then another. And then another.... In so doing, you will find Tanya Davis - honest, creative, and ever-changing; less armed than she is penetrable. There are a lot of ways to make art. And this is hers.

How to be Alone Video
How to be Alone is a whimsical videopoem that explores the multi-faceted definition of “alone”; the relationship between solitude and loneliness; and the many ways one can relish being by themselves while negating the associated stigmas. Part animation, part spoken-word, the Bravo!FACT commissioned project, was shot, animated, and edited by award-winning indie filmmaker Andrea Dorfman. Tanya Davis composed the poem and music and performed in the video. Approaching 1.7 million views on Youtube, How to be Alone is, contrary to the title, connecting people across the globe with universal themes and appeal.