Oncle Jazz Review

The method was to release a single every few months for three years and then collect them, which is why this runs seventy minutes and why every track is individually polished. It is also why it does not build. Taken piece by piece it is superb. Tailwhip is close to perfect, a rubbery bass line, a guitar figure that answers itself and a vocal so soft it barely disturbs the air. Show Me How is the one that found an audience of millions, and the reason is the space in it: almost nothing is happening and every element is placed exactly.

Numb and Seven are nearly as good. The lyrics are minimal to the point of being furniture, a few repeated lines per song, and Proulx sings everything at the same low unforced volume, which is either the charm or the limitation depending on your patience. As a sound it is one of the most distinctive of its decade. As an album it is a playlist with a sleeve.