Sea of No Cares marks another step forward for Great Big Sea, relying heavily on original songs, with a dash traditional fare added into the mix. This is an enjoyable disc that blends a keen pop sensibility while celebrating the culture of Atlantic Canada and the perseverance of the people who call it home.  Naomi de Bruyn wrote a fine career retrospective on Great Big Sea with lots of great details on their music and career up to the release of their 4th album, Turn. Great Big Sea are Alan Doyle (vocals, guitar, bouzouki), Bob Hallett (vocals, fiddles, tenor banjo, accordion, bouzouki, mandolin, high and low whistles), Séan McCann (vocals, guitar, bodhran, shakers) and Darrell Power (vocals, bass, bones, mandola).

The boys from St. John have been steadily accumulating commercial success, and No Cares, their first album for Rounder's Zoe label, builds on their previous successful with singles. "When I'm Up," an Oysterband song, took Play into the top 20 list of Canadian albums, as well as "Consequence Free" from Turn also achieved considerable popularity. Both still receive regular airing on Canada's Country Music Television, as do the two singles from No Cares: "Stumbling In" and the title track. Both singles from No Cares have also enjoyed considerable airplay here in the Toronto radio market, which is unusual for a band that many consider a "folk" group. Mind you, Canada celebrates its folk traditions and regional variations, but that doesn't necessarily translate into radio play on commercial stations. I'm not a purist, and I wish that many more musicians with roots in the folk traditions received the commercial success they deserve. But after several times through this disc, and looking over their earlier albums, I'm struck by a question.

Will this new material enter the lexicon of tradition, or does its commercial success separate it forever from folk music sung by real people in kitchens and pubs? The lads take every opportunity to encourage their fans to sing the songs they've pulled from the odd corners of Newfoundland, from fathers, friends, and earlier folk music performers. They even devote space in the liner notes to the traditional sources of the instrumental breaks in their songs. Mind you, most of the liner notes are photos of the band, but of the three pages with text, one credits the album's producers, the other discusses where they found their traditional material, and the third thanks their friends. They publish their own lyrics, and like Woody Guthrie and other folk troubadours, profess an interest in other people learning their songs along with traditional material. Yet it is the new material that has generated their country-pop success, not the ballads of the "Scolding Wife," seemingly a variant of the Child Ballad of the "Farmer's Curst Wife," or "Yarmouth Town," a crowd pleaser in any era with it's tale of easy, casual sex.

The great ballads all seem to tell stories that grip the listener with a tale of injustice, betrayal, courage or sheer beauty. As with "Barque in the Harbor": the jilted Spanish lover's pain comes through her words to her young Newfoundland lover, but we never hear of her inner state. The narrative creates tension, usually without the introspection so ubiquitous in pop music nowadays. Let's face it: navel gazing just wasn't as popular when "trad., arr" was writing all the songs. Now, Great Big Sea definitely know their way around ballads; they've written at least one narrative ballad on each of their albums. They borrow a good narrative ballad from C. Hynes with "Penelope," the story of a Jamaican immigrant. They've also pulled a great song from Frank Dwyer about a father saving for"a boat like Gideon Brown's" which can be purchased in St. John's Town.

As for their original material, "Sea of No Cares" straddles narrative and the world of feelings as it describes a man falling in love and leaving his friends "getting cynically stoned" at the bar. I like it's description of a man growing up to love, but I'd like a stronger storyline. Doyle's "Stumblin In" is also relationship focused; it's a pleasant pop song honoring a partner. "The Widow in the Window" uses narrative to tell of a would-be lover's desire for a widow with a callous lover, sung with sensitivity by McCann, although I'm guessing here as the liner notes do not give this sort of detail. Hallett's "French Perfume" has true folk ballad potential, as it tells a tale of smuggling gone wrong and a ship gone down -- "If the Wind turns right, if you don't take fright, You can Smell that French Perfume." It has a wicked melodic hook, a dissonant wailing fiddle, and great chorus to boot.

In the end though, I can't help but think that the lads are using some fine country pop to get themselves on the charts, and carrying their traditional material with them for the sake of great shows and a loyal core fan base. I've been a fan since seeng them years ago at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and later that summer at the Bottom Line in New York. I'm happy for their success, but even more happy that, looking back over their various albums, there are several fine ballads that might stand the test of time -- and folk musicians, unlike pop starts, have long careers. I imagine we'll see some more original material from Great Big Sea that will stand up to the best of Newfoundland's tradition, and I for one am looking forward hearing what they pull out of their nets.

There's lots of Great Big Sea here!

Find out more about the disc, from Rounder's Zoe Label.