Alberta is the latest single from Kylie Fox

Kylie Fox’s latest single is a journey through growth, memory and nostalgia in the most Canadian of ways.

Matt Carter

I have a weak spot for songs that speak specifically to the Canadian experience. I don’t know where that comes from. Perhaps it is the result of watching countless excerpts of Canadiana packaged into 60 second features on CBC television when I was a kid. Parks Canada, the Canadian Federation of Wildlife, and the National Film Board of Canada all occupied valuable airtime during my formidable years, sharing tiny morsels of the history and natural identity of our country. And I’ll tell ya, no matter how often my perception of Canada gets clouded with issues involving inner-provincial politics and questionable foreign policy decisions, I still tear up when think about watching The Beachcombers with my family on Sunday nights as a kid, and anytime I hear Gord Downie’s voice. And when my son asks the big questions about the world, I’m forever grateful to have the good fortune of telling him, “We live in the best place on earth.”

So here, with my weakness fully exposed, it is no wonder Alberta, the new single from Kylie Fox hit me where it counts. As she continues to build momentum towards the release of her forthcoming album, Fox’s latest single skillfully captures the pilgrimage so many young adults from the East Coast have made – heading west for the summer to plant trees.

“I wrote this song in a tent in Slave Lake, Alberta,” said Fox, “while working as a tree planter and feeling free and homesick and adventurous and isolated and strong and rejected all together at once. It is one of my oldest, and probably favourite, song I’ve ever written.”

As has become a regular feature of each new Fox release, her band comes close to stealing the show on this song. Like a warm blanket on a cool summer’s night, Ryan Barrie, Kelly Waterhouse, Sean Hutchins and Camilo Villamizar, together with producer Daniel Ledwell, create a rich and comforting atmosphere that perfectly captures the mood and feel of Fox’s journey through growth, memory and nostalgia.

Sequoia arrives September 13.