← MUSIC
Photograph: Roger Humbert
In the Throes of the Microscope (Page/Universal, 1996), her debut solo record was recorded live off the floor in 24 hours with engineer/producer Glen Robinson. Reviews included Chris Yurkiw’s description in the Montreal Mirror of a “striking vivisection of womanhood both passionate and clinical...a mix of passion and Petri dishes, love and rocket science.”
Armageddon Weather Channel (Page/Universal, 1998) moved toward darker moods, unusual time signatures, and more structurally abstract forms. The record featured Ian Ilavsky (Sofa, later Silver Mt. Zion), co-founder of Montréal’s Constellation Records, and was described in contemporary reviews as “the peak expression of one of rock’s aggressively elemental forms” (Brian Block, 33RPM)
Songs for Car Commercials (IRL Records/Universal Canada, 2002) marked a turn toward greater accessibility and an expanded tour schedule across the US and UK. The kinetic live performances comprised Thomas playing guitar and singing to sequencers, old analog cassette recorders, and looping toys. Billed as “Girl with Guitar and Beatbox”, the performances were described as “near epileptic,” “audacious,” and “movement-driven... a cross between Nina Hagen and Poly Styrene” (BBC, UK). “She was a wind-up toy from hell. She moved like a woman possessed....” (Erik Missio, Chart Attack Canada).
You and Me Against the World (IRL Records/Pinnacle UK/Universal, 2006) was mixed in the UK by Paul Cartledge and released on IRL Records. Vancouver’s Georgia Straight ranked it alongside releases by Neko Case and Cat Power as one of the Top Ten Records of 2006. The video for Motherfucking West” was presented at the International Music Video Festival in Berlin, Amsterdam, Tokyo, and New York. The live show was also selected by BBC Manchester for its “Best Live Acts” at In the City Manchester. (Ryan Bailer, 2006).
A lo-fi suite of missed mutes, tape stretch, and first takes, Priya Thomas is Blood Heron (Renovation Tracks) (Sunny Lane Records/Universal, 2008), was recorded at home on half-inch 8-track tape. The recording reveals every creak of the floors, the buzz and hum of warped-neck guitars, and the sounds of musicians stumbling around tiny spaces. The arrangements on record are idiosyncratic and threadbare; its wide-open spaces reflect the slow, psychedelic pace of travelling cross-country in a van. Written in hotel rooms while on tour, it was mixed and mastered by drummer Stephen Pitkin (Elliott Brood). The record drew comparisons to Bob Dylan, Robert Fripp, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Waits.
"Thunders with quiet clarity…Stunningly uncrafty, an unguarded album of betrayal, cutting losses and creating things from scratch. It’s raw stuff all guts, bones and jugular veins.” —The Globe and Mail, Disc of the Week, Brad Wheeler, November 11, 2008
“Simply knee-buckling songwriting skills to fall in love with… a potent and beautiful record. Songwriters of any stripe can only hope to release a record as strong as this.” —Ground Control LA, Bill Adams, September 18, 2008
“Priya is Canada’s answer to Patti Smith, only she’s a much better singer, a much better writer and a whole lot smarter.” —Detroit Metro Times, Jeffrey Morgan, November 19, 2008
“The album stands with some of the best homespun work by folks like Sufjan Stevens and Bruce Springsteen. With limited session players and garage sale instruments, the album simmers with ramshackle beauty. Thomas’ soulful voice is the focus, but how she transforms it from track to track is the real miracle.” —Ffwd Weekly, Calgary, Jason Lewis, October 23, 2008
“In a world where so many female singers make little more than background music, here is a songwriter who is not afraid to stand up in front, take risks, and challenge her listeners. She’s got a beautiful voice, but she’s willing to sound ugly when it fits the song. And she can write uncompromising, half-broken songs as good as Tom Waits or anyone else. This is an extraordinary album.” —Berkeley Place Indie Brooklyn NY, October 14, 2008
“She has both the chops and the nerve to hang with the Bob Dylans and Lucinda Williamses of the songwriting world. Playing most of the instruments herself, including pots and pans on Farewell Creek, Priya Thomas has taken her deep knowledge of musical history and channeled it into a mix of songs that almost don’t fit together, but somehow work perfectly.” —The Gateway Online, University of Alberta, Joshua de Groot, October 9, 2008
“Spitting out the lyrics the way Dylan spewed out It’s All Over Now Baby Blue, Thomas manages to come across as both seething and perfectly composed.” — The Toronto Star Anti-Hit List, John Sakamoto, September 27, 2008
“Thomas first-take creations are built on a blues/folk foundation, with guitars, piano, organ and omnichord kicking it drawn out and pretty, raw and gritty or stoney and droney.” —Montreal Mirror, Disc of the Week, Lorraine Carpenter, December 1, 2008
“It’s no surprise to discover that these songs were written on the road… her acoustic guitar finds the perfect midpoint between melodic hum and infectious, chunky, percussive rhythm. Blood Heron rewards the listener’s attention with a journey of crunchy attitude and moments of ragged grace.” —Discorder Vancouver, E.E. Mason, November 2008
“This raggedly strummed reflection — imagine Rickie Lee Jones sitting with Dylan over coffee and cigarettes — dismisses martyrs and thunders with quiet clarity.” —The Globe and Mail, Essential Tracks, Brad Wheeler, September 16, 2008
“Beautifully layered songs with a lo-fi feel, a voice that can pull off both a rock-out growl and sweet harmonies, and lyrics that cut deep.” —Monday Magazine BC, Amanda Farrell, November 20, 2008
“An uncompromising artistic statement, combing raw, Tom Waits-ian instrumentation with waves of free association lyrics reminiscent of Mary Margaret O’Hara’s cult classic, Miss America.” —The Record, Kitchener/Waterloo, Jason Schneider, November 15, 2008
“Blood Heron is purposely left without the normal glossy excess that modern recording technologies allow. What we found most intriguing about this album are the lyrics.” —BabySue Blog, Chattanooga TN, November 2008
“…touching, biting, honest, funny, and poetic.” —Panpot.ca, Montreal, December 6, 2008
“The Toronto singer-songwriter is steeped in critical acclaim, and her new recording, Blood Heron, more than supports all the Dylanisms.” —Times Colonist, Victoria BC, Mike Devlin, November 2008
“The songs have a raw, angsty, I’m-talking-to-you feel that hits you between the eyes (and ears), flowing to the rhythm of rock and folk and the neatly weird…” —The Hour, Montreal, Steve Guimond, January 2009
“Blood Heron is trademark Thomas: dark, ironic and thrilling.” — OttawaXpress, Fateema Sayani, November 20, 2008
“With cabin-feverish intensity and a homesteader’s range of instruments, this disc is the sound of being cornered by nature. A deliberate exploration of found sounds amid lost country.” — Durham Regional News, October 29, 2008