The Henrys are a Toronto-based ‘nearly-instrumental’ group that performs as a quartet, or quintet, but records with a larger stable of players. Led by Don Rooke, since 1990, the band’s goal has always been to compose, record, and perform original music that has no obvious genre but draws on a variety of styles in an original, identifiable way.
A heavily syncopated drum beat, a peculiar assortment of instruments led by a kona, and a lead singer who’s not a lead singer are the ingredients that make up the joyously strange and off-beat new single “A Night Beyond Repair” from Toronto-based The Henrys. Band leader Don Rooke’s vocals come in at just barely a whisper at times with an undeniably inviting melody over a curveball laden orchestra of harmonic twists and turns played on an array of instruments you won’t be finding at the corporate guitar store down the street anytime soon.
“A Night Beyond Repair” tells the story of a young woman who makes observations on her travels, then goes back home to find happiness in friends and community. Conjured by feelings about the American South, the Canadian North, and the environment. She sees people who witness the damage that’s being done to the planet, but are either not ready to engage, or can only find the capacity to process a certain amount of bad news,” says the band.
