The Genre-Bending Mystery that is Bahamas

Don’t let the title confuse you. Bahamas Is Afie is Bahamas.  Who just happens to be Canadian singer and guitarist Afie Jurvanen.  Pretty self-explanatory.  His first two albums have garnered critical success in Canada with multiple Juno nominations (the country’s equivalent to the Grammy’s).  With the release of his third album, Bahamas expands on his previous releases.

His voice is similar to that of Jack Johnson, with whom he is currently touring with, and oozes a tranquil coffee-shop vibe. A certain green-logo’d coffee giant has offered one of Bahamas’ tracks on their phone app for free download this month.  “All The Time” has a gritty swagger to it with falsetto vocals on top.  It offers a strange mix of laid-back music with distorted and sliding notes and call-and-response lyrics. “I got all (all) the (the) time (time) in the world.”

“Can’t Take You With Me” offers up a gentle string melody against the moving guitar part.  It’s a delicate track that showcases only one of the numerous genre influences on the album.  “Little Record Girl” has a honky-tonk/country vibe to it, while “Stronger Than That” features a little funky guitar and horns.  Even with the various genres and sounds on the album, Bahamas makes his own sound very clear.  It’s the calm and laid back sound that disguises itself.

The first track on the album, “Waves,” seems to sum up the sound of Bahamas.  It’s a sleepy folk vibe that transports you to a beach.  Calm and serene, yet can be applied to a coffee shop setting.  “There’s a part of this / that I’ll miss / At the heart of it / Your cold kiss.”  There’s a sigh in the background vocals that almost makes you fall asleep in the best way.

As for the name Bahamas, it makes no sense, nor does it need to.  The album is a calm sound that is all Jurvanen’s own.  The tranquility of his lyrics and voice are offset by the genre shifts in a good way.  It’s a mix of folk music with a Canadian twist that makes you wish you could sit out on the beach for the rest of the day.