Canadian singer/songwriter Tim Stead leads The Scenic Sound in an authentic approach to music that catches the skill and heart of the band with genuine emotion and soothing melodies.
Their first album, ‘Standing Still’ was released to critical acclaim in 2014, and garnered enthusiastic support from fans who loved the rhythmic and catchy hooks. After taking the album on an incredible 130 date tour across Canada, the Toronto musician went straight back to the studio. The result of this is new album, ‘Like A Fire’, released 21 March. The Scenic Sound blends Soul, Pop, Rock and R&B and comes up with a unique sound of their very own.
Second song on the album, ‘You & I’ is accompanied by a lyric video. It’s a catchy uptempo number, guitar-led and boppy, conveying the general happiness of the song: the singer is in love and wants to tell the world. Stead’s lyrical command is fabulous. In his own words he describes his vision for The Scenic Sound:
“We want to create something important, something that people feel like singing and believing.”
The rest of the album is the same – songs that tug hard at the heart, and make the listener feel as if they were written for them and for them alone. And that’s what The Scenic Sound set out to do, to write songs that everyone can relate to on some level. Like the beautiful, ‘Author Of My Hope’, the fifth song on ‘Like A Fire’, whose lyrics include the sublime, “We all have wings inside/when we find the will to fly”; and ‘Sleeping Lullaby’, which comes with two versions on the album, an acoustic and a piano rendition.
Our favourite song of the entire album however was lead track, ‘A Heart To Call Home’, which had a real Coldplay air about it. It’s a song about looking for finding the truth, with an anthemic quality about it with its crashing cymbals and soaring strings.
Stead speaks of his work:
“After we got home from months of touring with my previous band for the last time, I took a break from songwriting, but songwriting never took a break from me. Over the next year, I heard choruses in my mind that I couldn’t ignore. It got to a point where I had too many ideas that needed to be expressed.”
‘Like A Fire’ was produced by SOCAN Number 1 Awarded producer, Murray Daigle, who is known for his work with Faber Drive, and Neverest. The five tracks (plus a remix of third track, ‘Warmer With You’) feature percussion, piano, acoustic guitar, and string arrangments.
Not content to merely keep his songs to himself, Tim has written songs for other artists as well, including two which have entered the top ten singles chart. One of these songs was also listed in the top 100 tracks of 2013 on the Canadian Christian Recording Chart.
You can find The Scenic Sound online on their official website, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Their new album, ‘Like A Fire’ is available to download from iTunes.
