10 years playing with an 18-piece ensemble seems like but a stitch in time for GRAMMY- and JUNO-nominated composer-cum-bandleader Darcy James Argue. Sure, this year was his best for winning, receiving both the Doris Duke Artist Award and a Guggenheim Fellowship. But as bright as those gongs are, 2015 isn't halfway done arguing his can't stop/won't stop attitude, soldiering on with that trademark sound of his nonpareil ensemble, Darcy James Argue's Secret Society.
As for Zola Jesus' newest incarnation here, The Wire's Joseph Stannard writes in Issue 354: "'Fall Back,'" for example, is spellbinding, an open-hearted declaration of devotion whose poignancy is sharpened to a diamond-sharp point by Thirlwell's spacious arrangements."