When last we heard from Marc Morrissette and his Octoberman project, the songwriter was openly declaring his desire to run from safety. Fittingly, Octoberman’s sophomore album, Run From Safety, found the vocalist/guitarist dispensing with the folky troubadour identity he established for himself on his debut These Trails Are Old and New, enlisting a band of diverse players and experimenting with a more expansive and dynamic sonic palette.
Fortresses—Octoberman’s third full-length—sees Morrissette and his band distancing themselves even further from any notion of comfort or security. While the evocative title certainly lends itself well to Octoberman’s formidable new sound, it also allows the record’s frequent instances of aching vulnerability to catch an unsuspecting listener completely unaware. Marking Octoberman’s most cohesive and adventurous effort to date, Fortresses revels in the ghosts that emerge and raw nerves that are exposed when old defences fall.
While employing his usual cast of collaborators, Morrissette made the decision to leave his adopted Vancouver home to record the album in two unfamiliar cities with a pair of accomplished producers.
The construction of Fortresses first found Octoberman holing up with Dave Draves (Julie Doiron, Kathleen Edwards) in Ottawa, Ontario. Next, Octoberman encamped in Portland, Oregon with Larry Crane (Elliott Smith, Stephen Malkmus, Cat Power). Primarily recorded live off the floor, the session captured a more intimate and subdued Octoberman, highlighted by the gorgeously spare ukulele-and-piano piece Thirty Reasons.
Fortresses also marks Morrissette’s most thematically unified work as a wordsmith. Quite appropriately, after completing an album that documented “endings” with such openness and aplomb, Morrissette brought his extended tenure in Vancouver to a close. Along with guitarist/vocalist C.L. McLaughlin, Morrissette relocated to Toronto and recruited a new complement of players to complete the East Coast Octoberman line-up.
After earning critical praise from the likes of Pitchfork Media, Uncut and Americana UK (Album of 2007), appearing at the SXSW, Pop Montreal, Sled Island and CMJ festivals and extensively touring North America and Europe, Octoberman now begins a bold new chapter built upon the sturdy foundation of Fortresses.
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