A continuation of the life story started with 2020's award-winning The Ridge, Julian Taylor documents his adolescent evolution from innocence to hurt in his most vulnerable work yet on Beyond The Reservoir.
The record, out Oct. 14 via his Howling Turtle, Inc. label with distribution via Warner Music/ADA, sees the Toronto-based indie rock turned folk artist open up about his adventurous teen years spent with friends at the St. Clair Reservoir and the struggles with his own identity as a Black and Indigenous (Mohawk and West Indian) boy.
While this album resembles a loss of innocence from its predecessor, it also still is filled with a sense of everlasting hope long present in Taylor's songwriting. This is exemplified in tracks like "Seeds," a song beaming with positivity through tragedy as he sings "They tried to bury us / but they didn't know we were seeds" in reference to the 215 unmarked graves discovered at the Kamloops Indian Residential School in May 2021.
"This is the first time in history that I recall people taking the time to understand Indigenous culture and language," Taylor tells Wide Open Country. "It shows that it's receiving respect and has some longevity and resilience behind it. It's also about allyship for all marginalized cultures for how they're all still standing despite everything they've gone through. At the end of the day we're all human beings, so I want my music to stand on the right side of history that helps make the world a better place for all."
This combination of Indigenous pride and hopefulness also resides in closing track "Opening The Sky," a direct translation from his grandfather's Mohawk name ("Tahoronhianent") that was written to champion his daughter that she can do anything no matter what obstacles lay in her way. The song, and album ends with a direct reference to his daughter with direct translation of her name in Mohawk ("Tiohsera'the") as he sings:
"Light bright snow is on its way
Remember to play each and every day
And also to find time to simply stay... still
Time to simply stay... still."
"When I was younger my parents expressed just how worried they were for me to go out into the world," says Taylor. "I have the same concerns for the younger generation, my daughter especially. I know that one day I'm not going to be here so I want to provide her the lessons and experiences to be able to go out into the world confidently when I'm gone knowing that nothing can diminish her dreams."
A rightfully concerned parent, Taylor's heart is in the right place and is based on his own experiences. Beyond The Reservoir represents not only the good, but the bad memories associated with his youth after all. The latter is explored on tracks like "Moonlight" with its mention of being "handcuffed to the backseat of a policeman's car" but being more concerned about the friends he'd buried than his own actions that led him there.
Those buried friends are later documented on cuts like "Murder 13," about a pal who was Toronto's 13th murder in 2005, and "Stolen Lands," which touches on both the colonization of North America while also containing a vignette about yet another family friend gunned down by local police. Even with its dark themes the song still oozes with Taylor's trademark wisdom as he questions Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," singing:
"This land is your land and this land is my land
This land was made for you and me
A poor choice of words by Woody Guthrie
This land was taken and now everyone sees."
"[My friend] got himself into situations that he wasn't able to get himself out of, which makes me feel so lucky to have surpassed my own expectations as a human," says Taylor. "There's so many times when I thought I wouldn't get out of a situation alive, but here I am. That's why the album may be tougher for some people to chew on because I do call out Woody Guthrie, tell people about Black boys being murdered and confronting the fact that I was confused about my identity."
At the same time, Taylor is adamant that this album is also about humanity. He only knows and can write about his own experiences, but he knows that at the end of the day we're all human. Being of Black and Indigenous descent, Taylor is accustomed to having his identity challenged. It's caused him a great deal of grief and pain, which is documented throughout Beyond The Reservoir. However, it's also given him the confidence to stick to his guns and give him hope, something that the album provides in an equal dosage.
Bringing a cannonball of calm to an album full of conflict is "I Am A Tree," a metaphorical missive drawing from nature — one of Taylor's grandest creative influences — as he likens the ups and downs of humanity to the timeless life of a centuries old tree, singing:
"I am a tree
I weather the storm around me.
Many have tried to cut me down
I am a tree."
"I use nature in so much of my work to describe what it is to be alive in a metaphorical way and what it means to flourish and grow, which is what this record is all about," says Taylor. "It's not a sad, depressing and dark record. It's really a record about hopefulness, love and vulnerability. It's about surrendering to things you can't control. It's surrendering to the fact that the path ahead of us is what's meant to be whether it's our ideal vision of what it should be or not. It's about telling people close to me that I love them. It shows the type of strength that lies within the weakest parts of us that provide resilience and tenacity to overcome just about anything."
Much like his Juno Award nominated and Canadian Folk Music Award winning album The Ridge, Beyond The Reservoir's grounded feel not only comes from its familial connections in the lyrics, but also in the studio. Cousins Gene (drums) and Barry Diabo (bass) again joined him along with longtime production partner/collaborator Saam Hashemi across three Toronto-area locations — Canterbury, The Fireside Studio and The Woodshed.
If his past record and its formula for success is any indication, Beyond The Reservoir is set to shatter expectations and further let listeners into the life of Taylor, one of the wisest and brightest songwriters currently north of the border who deserves to be on bigger stages.
