''For John'' is the second

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

album from

Regina, Saskatchewan Regina ( ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province, and is a commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. As of the 2021 Canadian census, ...

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...

collective

Library Voices Library Voices are a Canadian indie pop band from Regina, Saskatchewan.Zoratti, Jen (July 30, 2009).There's nothing hushed about these Voices... Regina pop ensemble Library Voices is making a big noise with its debut EP, Hunting Ghosts & Other Co ...

. The album was released on June 14, 2014 on the band's own Prairie Shag Recordings. ''For John'' is a radical departure in style and sound for Library Voices. Previous albums featured clean production with a heavy emphasis on

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

, whereas ''For John'' is stripped down,

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

guitar rock in style of early FM radio.

About

''For John'' is a tribute to John Farrell, a

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

and influential supporter of FM album-oriented rock music in the Buffalo area during the 1970s, who died in March 2013. Farrell was an early and avid proponent of Library Voices; he did not drive a car but would take a bus from Buffalo to locations across southern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

to see the band perform. On hearing of Farrell's death, the band's lyricist Michael Dawson said that he and songwriter Carl Johnson "instinctively wanted to release some material dedicated to and inspired by John."

Critical and popular reception

Two tracks from the album charted on

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

's Top 30: "Windsor Hum" spent three weeks at number one in the winter of 2014, and "John Farrell Buffalo" reached number three and spent several weeks on the chart in the fall of 2014. Noting the radical change from the Library Voices' previous work, Noah Siegel of ''New Canadian Music'' said the album "could be from an entirely different act altogether. Gone are the potent hooks and shimmering, glossy production, swapped for hazy vocals, fuzzy guitars, and a lo-fi sheen" and found that ''For John'' "all works though, still replete with their signature clever lyrics, and as a neat slice of Canadiana rock." ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'''s Peter Sanfilipo found variety in the songs, saying "Like changing frequencies on a wood-paneled broadband radio, the collective jumps from one style to another" and finding that "Each song is catchy and heartfelt".

Track listing

Personnel

* Carl Johnson (lead vocals, guitar) * Michael Dawson (electronics) * Brennan Ross (guitar, vocals) * Eoin Hickey-Cameron (bass guitar) * Paul Gutheil (saxophone, percussion, vocals) * Amanda Scandrett (vocals, keyboards) * Michael Thievin (drums and percussion)

References

{{Reflist, colwidth=30em Library Voices EPs 2014 EPs