Medd & Shaw – Another Day (Album Review)

Canadian folk duo Medd & Shaw released their new album Another Day, a follow-up to the success that was After All That We’ve Been Through, released back in 2022. The duo, consisting of Dorian Medd and Robert Shaw, have actually been active since the 70’s, releasing singles every so often that get picked up by Canadian radio, with the duo focusing on live music. However, it wasn’t until recently that they hunkered in the studio to release full projects. Let’s see what this duo has to offer!

The album begins with its namesake, “Another Day”. The song is quite funky, especially how it starts off with that bass line. The guitar work is also pretty damn good, not what I really expected. Moreover, the vocal harmonies are great, which is a feature that can be heard throughout the whole record. With “Another Day”, you get an idea of what the album is going to be like, although this track is unique, sounding like a very laid-back Red Hot Chili Peppers song.

The follow-up song, “Let It All Fall Down on Me”, is also quite nice, with a good inclusion of slide guitar, which can also be heard in other songs. The melody is also really good, but I feel like I’ve heard it in one or two other songs before. I usually have a good ear when it comes to identifying it, but I can’t put my finger on it. Nonetheless, it’s a good song.

“Rolling Back the Time” shows another reason to like this album, which is the different styles that Medd and Shaw try to incorporate in one project, and done in a way that isn’t messy. Sure, is this specific song just old fashioned rock n’ roll that we’ve heard a thousand times? Most definitely, but it’s done with a charm that’s hard to ignore, especially with the vocal harmonies. “You and Me”, which is my favorite song off the whole record, is a complete 180 from what we just heard. It’s definitely a more rustic, Appalachian style song, which is an aesthetic I’m attracted to. The instrumentals are also fantastic, the best on this record, in addition to the great production that is present throughout the record.

I want to focus on the last three songs that close off the album. “Diamond Eyes”, featuring vocals from Juan Pablo Palencia (who I believe also produced the album), is definitely one of the best here. Juan’s voice matches the samba and bossa nova style of this track, giving it the life it needed, along with the percussion and piano that wrap it all together. “Money Don’t Buy Love” is catchy for what it is. Out of this last sprint of three songs, this is my least favorite, as it essentially Medd and Shaw becoming a discount Santana (with the beginning sounding a lot like “Smooth”, and the song overall heavily reminding me of “Oye Como Va”), though a good one at that. “Rhayne”, also featuring Juan Pablo Palencia on vocals, is a really nice closer. I could say that it does have the best string arrangement out of the whole record.

The weaknesses of this album can be found towards the middle, though there is one outlier, which is the third song. “I Took the Long Way Home”, I would say, is a decent song, though I think it has some of the best guitar work on the record. However, I found the song to be quite derivative and boring overall, more so with that chorus. The worst song for me has to be “Close Your Eyes Goodnight”. Not only are the lyrics corny (which, to be fair, is also something that some of the other songs are guilty of, though not to this extent), but it’s also the music. The best way to describe it is that it’s too sweet, almost to the point of being diabetic.

The three songs that followed it are okay, but I just found them to be boring. I predicted the melody of “It’s About Life” and the way the song was going to go within five seconds of hearing it; I feel like this would be a throwaway song from the Eagles’ debut record. “Love is the Scenic Route of Life” is essentially a Jimmy Buffet song that happens to steal the melody from the Beatles’ “Yesterday”, not to mention that the guitar work carries the track. “When the Wind Blows” was just a snooze fest to me, nothing more.

Here are all of the songs ranked on a scale of 0-4:

1. Another Day – 3
2. Let It All Fall Down on Me – 3
3. I Took the Long Way Home – 2
4. Rolling Back the Time – 3
5. You and Me – 4
6. Close Your Eyes Goodnight – 1
7. It’s About Life – 2
8. Love is the Scenic Route of Life – 2
9. When the Wind Blows – 1
10. Diamond Eyes – 3
11. Money Don’t Buy Me Love – 3
12. Rhayne – 3

SCORE/Good: Overall, I don’t have much to gripe about this record, even if nothing about it strikes me as original. I don’t think Medd & Shaw really care much about originality, and I wouldn’t fault them for it. We’re talking about two dudes who have been playing music together over the better part of five decades, I think we owe them a bit of break. Besides, they gave us a record with extremely clean-sounding production, so we know that effort was put into this. This is more noted in how the duo was able to tackle several genres of music, all done with respect. All in all, this might be the most boomer album I’ve ever heard, something that a cruise for people over the age of 50 would go head over heels for, but it’s still a fun listen. Hats off to you lads, I hope to hear more from you.

[We rank singles, EPs, and albums on a scale of Poor, Mediocre, Good, Excellent, and Outstanding]

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