Edmonton’s Sean Davis Newton has taken on many roles in the Canadian music scene. He’s been a music critic, interviewer, photographer, designer, engineer, producer, and more, but 2024 sees Newton stepping into the spotlight as a songwriter to release his debut record, Bird Brain, coming out on October 18th, 2024.
Newton’s songs aren’t unlike the creatures he writes about on Bird Brain; they’re solitary, tuneful, curious, resourceful, scrappy, playful, and occasionally ugly, messy, and cacophonous. Whether it’s McCartney-esque barroom piano romps or Pavement-inspired nonsense rock, Newton’s songs are bound together by a fascination with the mundane and his singular ability to find and cherish the complexity hidden within it.
We are officially on the road to Newton’s debut album, and “Glass Eye” is our first glimpse into the project. The subtle psychedelia of the guitar work stunningly accents the jovial vocals, creating an infectious and frenetic energy to get lost in. The way Newton’s vocals flail over the guitars is captivating, but those guitars bring the song to life. The arrangement finds an intoxicating middle ground between gentle and jangly, borrowing from folk rock heroes like Wilco, while Newton’s vocal performance separates him from his contemporaries. With the release of Bird Brain inching closer, Newton’s “Glass Eye” introduces us to a vulnerable songwriter who not only fearlessly materializes his lofty visions but delivers them with zealous enthusiasm that is simply infectious.
“I used to work at a big chain music store in Edmonton, Alberta, and I would play what became the main riff in Glass Eye over and over again, much to my co-worker’s chagrin. Finally, one of them told me to knock it off or at least finish the song, and so I went into the acoustic guitar room and wrote it,” explains Newton. “I was particularly proud that, when we recorded the album, the very last thing we tracked was the screaming background vocals at the end of this song, and in true John Lennon ‘Twist and Shout’ form, I did them once, completely blew out my voice, and that’s what you hear in the recording.”
