released January 30, 2023

Only Connect was recorded in the Spring of 2022 on a far-flung corner of Prince Edward Island at the Kings Playhouse in Georgetown and The Fairfield Social Club.

Engineered by Ariel Sharratt and Mathias Kom
Produced by Mathias Kom
Mixed by Lisa Conway
Mastered at Dreamlands Mastering by Heather Kirby
Lathe cuts by Jackson Darby at Personal Touch
Cover art by Dan English
Album printing by Myles Conner

Sarah McInnis: voice, omnichord
Charlie Glasspool: piano, voice, bass pedals, organ, trumpet, baritone
Mathias Kom: narrator, bass, drums, hurdy gurdy, shruti box, recorder
Ariel Sharratt: bass clarinet, tenor sax
Wyatt Burton: electric guitar on 5%
Trevor Davis: electric guitar “Cybil” on Jimmy & Lucy
Lisa Conway: typewriter on Jimmy & Lucy
Ruthie: voice on Railroad Work song

In a previous life (Glasspool/McInnis)—do we believe in reincarnation? Not sure. Dreams and visions seem to suggest an affirmative response to the question.

Hollow night their wings (Glasspool)—a perceived revolution. A tip of the hat to Charles G.D. Roberts and Ludwig Van Beethoven here and a warning about the dangers of unbridled patriotism. So very palpable and current in “Canada”.

5% (Glasspool)—listening to my favourite CBC show Quirks and Quarks one Saturday in the car. The British anthropologist suggests that most homo sapiens of European descent have the titular amount of Neanderthal DNA in their systems to this very day. As said anthropologist listed traits associated with this entirely other species I had to pull over, averting a highway accident in the process, because I possess them all.

Goalkeeping (Glasspool/McInnis)—Albert Camus was a promising goalkeeper as a young adult. As was I. This piece, with almost unbearable rubato, is meant to capture the wandering thoughts one has when you play this most unusual position, at once participant and spectator. How much of L’étranger was composed during a football match?

Jimmy & Lucy (Glasspool)—I had the fateful blessing to meet an enchanting young British couple by these names. Something about them, and their very being, gave me and gives me enormous and eternal hope for a future defined by love and connection. Many Indigenous friends of mine here on Turtle Island, from many disparate nations, have told me that a major problem with the colonial/settler mentality is that said folks are not connected to the land from which they come. Or their songs and stories. For this reason, I love you James and Lucy. Reconnecting and reminding me. Once upon a time Iceni, Briton, Celt, ancient matriarchal societies, to and of and from the isle, fighting the Roman invaders.

Barbara Allen (traditional)—pursuant to the last song on the previous side, here is a song that is older than hills. A song connected to the land—how the rose got its thorns? My father’s lullaby to me as a child.

Toast of the Barrhead Hotel (Glasspool)—whoa. wow. This one just kind of happened during the session. Once upon a time, my brother and I, proverbially, were as thick as thieves. We were in our very first bands together—GHSS Concert Band, NSF, The Cravens, The Mindchangers, The Glasspool Brothers. A song that simultaneously celebrates the memory of that connection and the sadness to have lost it.

Railroad work song (traditional)—a re-working of a song that The Silver Hearts used to play at a breakneck tempo. It never worked for me at such speed. It is a lament. My father worked on the trains when he immigrated to “Canada” if this seems a disingenuous cover.

Leonard (Glasspool, letter written by Leonard McFadden)—this is the last correspondence from my Great Uncle Leonard before he was killed at Vimy Ridge.

Carrying (Glasspool, McInnis)—this entire side of the album is especially personal and especially difficult for me to listen to now that it exists in some real way. Here is some respite for me, and for you the listener. Ending with encouragement from E.M. Forster himself.