Paul Denis – Lost In Nicole Kidman

Paul Denis – Lost In Nicole Kidman – Album Review

Ayyyy…it’s always good to have Paul Denis back in the mix here.  We talked behind the scenes about this album being worked on back in 2022…I was reviewing the song “Magic Eraser,” which is when I first learned about Lost In Nicole Kidman starting to take some kinda shape.  Obviously some time has passed between then and now, but hey, if you’ve ever made a record yourself you know how much goes into it, and you know why that all takes as much time as it does.  Now triple or quadruple that scenario you pictured…because there’s probably a damn good chance that Denis is putting in more effort than most.

The first thing that popped into my head as I started digging into his new album and “Black Water (Dream 28)” popped up was that Paul should connect with the guys in Nova Cascade…they’d have a great time hangin’ out and talkin’ about all those nitty gritty details that Progressive music fans like to rant on and on about in the tunes they love.  As I read a few more details about the making of Lost In Nicole Kidman, I learned that a bunch of the songs that Paul creates comes directly from dreams he’s had, hence the title.  How cool is that though?  No joke, I didn’t dream at all for the first forty-two years of my LIFE…then they eventually started happening with startling ferocity & vivid detail out of nowhere and I genuinely had to wonder how normal people did that stuff every night…I don’t think I could have done it.  That being said, how amazing would it be to dream up your next song like Paul has here?  I can definitely get behind that!  Suffice it to say those were NOT the kind of dreams I’ve been having over the past four years.  Anyhow.  I like what he’s come up with here…the piano melody at its start is fantastic, and LISTEN to the transition around the two-minute mark!  That heavy hit on the snare alone is brilliant, never mind all the other awesomeness swirling through the mix.  He’s got Gilmour-esque guitar work goin’ on at times…the main hook of his vocals is practically Bowie-esque…the keyboards are radiant and beaming out stunningly colorful sounds…the Spoken Word samples buried into the mix are fantastic too.  It’s a Prog song of course, so expect some serious LENGTH in many of these tunes, but make no mistake, he’s made the right moves to get your attention quickly as this new album begins, and displayed a wild amount of ideas and depth right from the drop.  Heck, he’s practically takin’ ya into “Kashmir”-esque type epicness before it’s all over, and by the time “Black Water (Dream 28)” is completely finished, you’ll feel like you’ve already taken quite the significant ride.  Substantial music like this fills you up like a great meal, and right down to the final whispers from Paul as this track fades out, he ain’t leavin’ you hungry.

From what I’ve read in these notes scattered across my dusty desk barely illuminated by this half-burned candle flickering in the wind as I clickity-clack on my ancient typewriter, Paul’s kid engineered this album – a point of fatherly pride without a doubt.  What’s THAT like, asks the writer whose dad is a musician and has probably never read a single word I’ve ever written?  Take it to heart younger-Denis…I know for a fact your old man is mighty proud of how awesome you’ve got this record sounding, and rightly so.  As the album shifted into “Forever” and more vocals came up, I had check my memory for a second or two – wasn’t Paul mainly an instrumental artist before?  What’s with all this vocal stuff happening here?  To be fair, he did have a few songs that had vocals in the past as far as I recollect…but yeah, he does have them added to every cut on Lost In Nicole Kidman.  Not always his either – in fact, you’ll hear a sensational featured guest on “Forever” early into the album’s lineup.  Similar to how I felt about “Black Water (Dream 28),” it’s the most intense demands on the singing that seem to yield the best results…like the chorus of the opening cut, that worked out really well.  On “Forever” you can hear that Paul has enlisted a genuine powerhouse on the mic…like, she’s absolutely fantastic at her best, and for the most part that’s what you get from her.  It’s still Prog at the end of the day y’all…there ARE going to be a few sketchy moments from the microphone here and there because that is simply the RULES of the genre.  Don’t get mad at me, I didn’t make’em.  In any event, for the vast majority of this second tune, she’s crushin’ it as far as I’m concerned.  Let’s be real here – it’s seriously challenging to sing on Prog tunes, hence the varied results you often find no matter which artist or band you’re listening to inside the genre…I figure if you can get something like 90% of the way there in this style of music, I’m willing to accept that.  I’m even more willing to accept it when the highlights are as strong as what you hear on “Forever.”  A love song written from the perspective of Paul’s mother while his father was out there fighting in WWII, I mean, it’s quite the concept ain’t it?  It’s also quite the thrilling ride to take as you listen to this song expand from the quaint charm of its beginning into the dramatic heights that fill this song right to its very end.  “Could I convince you to stay?” is a line I love to ponder every time I listen to this track.  I think we all naturally wonder about how much we can ask of those we love, but going off to war seems like the most extreme example of that…ultimately, going to fight for your freedoms and such IS a reflection of the love you have for someone else, though I can only imagine how tough that would be to understand at the time when you’re saying goodbye to your other half, knowing you might never even see them again.  It’s a heartbreaking concept he’s working with here, but he balances it perfectly with a resilient spirit.

Me?  I’m a simple guy.  I’m the son of a famous Canadian Prog musician (though he disputes the Prog part of that assessment for reasons completely unknown)…so don’t get me wrong, I’ve grown up listening to pretty damn intricate and intense tunes from the moment I crawled outta the womb way back when.  If I have my choice of what I’m listening to though, I’ll admit that I don’t always need all the bells and whistles that tend to come with the genre.  I find myself appreciating them more than I listen to them at this stage of my life I guess, but I still get plenty of exposure to that style of music through what I do here on these pages of ours.  This is all a roundabout way of saying that “I Forgot About You” is the kind of song that made an immediate impact on me, largely because it’s got a lot less ingredients at the core of it all, and the focus is much more on the melody this time around.  That’s pretty much the recipe to get me listening closely, and from my perspective, often the real key to widespread accessibility as well.  He’s still got some extra additions here that make a major impact…like…I don’t know if that’s a pedal steel or a theremin or a keyboard…all I can tell you is that it matters not to me, I just love the sound.  Then there’s the backing vocals…subtle, but a wonderful inclusion.  The drums are a massive standout here too – smartly complex without becoming too dominant to take away from the simple melody at the center of the spotlight.  Lyrically, from what I understand, this song is largely about Paul remembering he’d forgotten about an old friend, and “I Forgot About You” becomes a powerful reflection about what realizing that would be like.  You kids might not get it now, but you will one day if you have the good fortune of getting older – you might go years and years without thinking about someone you might even have used to see every second day…and it’ll bring a tear to your eye just as easily as a smile to your face.  It’s bittersweet like that, and hence, being the capable and competent songwriter he is, Paul’s song finds the crucial balance in the emotions he’s threaded into this song, which is greatly enhanced by the expression in the music.

Be CAREFUL my man!  Again, as a longtime listener to Prog, I know that the vocals typically aren’t going to ever be the main priority over song structure, sound quality, and instrumentation…but if we’re talkin’ about the masses, they’re not always going to be so forgiving.  As “Lead The Way” started on somewhat shaky ground in that respect, I felt myself brace a little bit.  Much like how the opening track on Lost In Nicole Kidman went though, redemption is found in the most intense demands made on the vocals – the delicate moments are tough, I ain’t gonna lie, but the more fired-up the vocals get, the better they are.  Overall, “Lead The Way” is arguably one of the most personal cuts in the set, which is usually an indication that it’s going to be one of the hardest to get perfectly right…you wouldn’t believe how many times I’ve run into scenarios like this, where the music means SO MUCH that it’s really tough to nail it all.  I look at it this way…if you can slip into the mindset and understand that the vocals in Progressive music for the most part are always more performance-based than worrying about coloring inside of the lines, you can start to hear how things fit a little better.  Anyhow.  Paul’s written about the early diabetes diagnosis of the very same kid who is now engineering these songs you’re listening to on this album, which I can only imagine would be extremely traumatic for parents to go through when there are always so many unknowns with the typically lifelong disease.  Denis has got some insightful lyricism goin’ on here that’s quite in the right to question how we’ve handled problems like this in the history of modern medicine/its horrifying relationship to high profile donors and corporations.  He doesn’t go quite full-blown conspiracy theorist or start wearing a tinfoil hat here, which I appreciated.  Personally, I think he makes a lot of salient points, while also encouraging us listeners to contemplate why we haven’t made more of an effort to get the answers as to why we’re so seemingly unable to fix what is broken in the system, and why we’re not demanding the kind of accountability that should come with it.  I go back and forth a little about the verses for the vocals, but the rest of this track felt really strong from start to finish…great ideas in the musicianship as always, and I really liked how Paul’s been creating these bold transitions that really do highlight the resilience and optimism in our shared humanity.  Bonus points for the door knocks to be found in this tune…you’ll get it when you hear’em.  Nice touch!

The return of “Louis” is here!  This time known as “Louie (Dream 11),” but you might remember this tale of the final minutes of Louis Riel’s life from when I wrote about this song in advance of the record back in 2023.  I still think this sounds fantastically strong and seems every bit as fresh as it was when I first heard it way back when.  Hooks-wise, “Louis (Dream 11)” is easily one of the most memorable – I pretty much got chills when Paul arrived at the chorus and “the artists will keep the flame” began to repeat.  I certainly remember that moment from my previous listens, and I was more than happy to welcome it back.  Riel is a fantastic part of Canadian history that really makes those of us that live here, consider the true value of what we have, what we share, and what it means to be the Country that we are.  To some, he’s a polarizing figure, but I’d reckon that to more, he’s a proud part of our history that fought in two rebellions on behalf of indigenous rights, which I’d like to say that we still value just as much to this very day.  I’d LIKE to say that…but I don’t think I get that luxury.  If you’ve read any of the current bullshit that is happening here where I live in British Columbia surrounding what a certain political party leader in this province feels like our indigenous friends should be called, you know that we still have to battle for their rights even now in what we consider to be modern society.  Paul is correct though – “the artists will keep the flame” burning, the memory sustained, and hopefully continue to always be the people that fight for the changes we need through art, music, and the preservation of culture.  I could go on and on about this song even now, I truly think it’s one of Paul’s best…but I know this will be a long article and some of you have life to live outside of reading these reviews.  That being said, if you DO find yourself wanting to know more about this song and my original thoughts on hearing it, click here to do just that!

Hmmmm…apparently there’s been some debate amongst the fans of Paul Denis as to whether or not “Come Back” hits the mark.  I’m taking his word for that mind you…I would never check the internet to see what anybody else thinks of a damn thing before I’ve written my own thoughts on anything I listen to.  What I cannot tell, for the life of me, is whether he’s dead serious about the song’s structure, or providing some of the driest sarcasm I’ve ever read in my life; he mentions that “Come Back” is basically two songs in one, but then goes on to highlight how it’s built with a structure of verse/chorus/bridge/chorus…and like…man, I dunno how to take that.  Everything else he’s written in his notes has been so factual to this point, but like…you’re reading that the same way I am right Paul?  You mentioned that it’s “not the norm,” to which I’m responding with, YES – it is VERY MUCH the norm good sir!  But I do listen to a heck of a lot of songs each and every day, so maybe that’s just my perspective.  In any event, structure aside…I kind of went a little back and forth about my feelings on this tune.  Like, I dig a lot of the lyrics he’s penned to his opening verses…and I’m just shy of indifferent about the lyrics of the chorus, though I can acknowledge there is a hook that is catchy enough at that point in the song.  Love songs are tricky things…essentially, you’ve gotta look at it like, yes, everything has been said in some way, shape or form before – but not by Paul y’all.  So, while it might feel new to him, I’m hearing a bunch of stuff in that chorus that I’ve already experienced in a thousand different ways…and that’s a little tough to reconcile.  I know there’s been some debate surrounding the verses of this song, but that’s by far my favorite part of this cut.  I like its core themes of longing and really needing someone back in your life…that all works well…but yeah…tougher tune to examine with its two separate parts of its character & sound…my guess is that listeners might be suggesting there’s a bit of a noticeable imbalance in the strengths of its parts, but I don’t speak for anyone but myself.  I’m suggesting there’s a noticeable imbalance in the strengths of its parts, but what I like, I still really like.  The guitar solo around the 3:45 mark is solid stuff…much of the lead vocals work well…and I felt like he really shows us some fire in the spirit of this song.  Chorus-wise, there’s nothing to take personal here – I’m always going to advocate on behalf of using your words rather than opting to rely on repetition.

As “Magic Eraser” is nearly a ten-minute tune that I could easily spend another five pages writing about – you’ve got the opportunity to read my original thoughts on it by clicking here instead, and I’ll do my best to keep this as succinct as I’m capable of.  Quality tune!  It’s the other advance single I was able to check out in advance of the release of Lost In Nicole Kidman…I reviewed this back in 2022.  Huh…look at that…gotta update the old article…the embed is gone.  You know there’s not a day in my life where I’m not having to do that?  Musicians are such a strange animal I tell ya.  Most of’em will tell you it’s freakin’ tough to get heard, but meanwhile I’m over here seeing broken links, disappearing embeds, and about seven name-changes per artist or ten per band, every single day.  Wild.  Anyhow.  “Magic Eraser” is a song that is literally some FORTY YEARS in the making, which is genuinely incredible.  I can’t remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, and Paul’s out there in Manitoba somewhere, hanging on to pieces of songs in his head for actual DECADES.  I need some of whatever they’re putting in the water over there.  Is it coffee?  Coffee is my favorite water.  Back to the point – “Magic Eraser” is another seriously epic song from Denis and another highly personal one that also deals with the diagnosis of his son’s diabetes back when he was only five.  If that doesn’t give an extra dimension of heartbreak to the line of this song’s chorus, where the words are “it wouldn’t be the same without you,” I’m not sure what else could.  I’ve always been somewhat forced to look at diabetes from the opposite perspective – my old man has had it his entire life, and as a kid I think we naturally assume our parents can handle anything…but I can only imagine how scary and tough it would be to see this from the other side of the coin as a parent to a child.  Paul always does a commendable job of giving his material a fairly interpretive quality to his lyrics…I’m sharing a lot of what he’s mentioned behind the scenes here in terms of what these tunes have been about, but if left to your own devices, you’d find your own meanings, theories and interpretations like we always do when we listen to music.  “Magic Eraser” is absolutely right up there with the best in Paul’s catalog though…he definitely knew which two songs to release in advance of the record, even if that was years ago now.  The character in the guitar is truly outstanding in this song, the vocals are superb, and the lyrics are equally heartfelt, thought-provoking and important.  To achieve as much balance in the strengths of a nearly ten-minute song like he has on “Magic Eraser” is no small achievement whatsoever…it’s practically an impossibility, but he’s nailed it.

You want to know WHY I’m always going to advocate for artists and bands to use their words instead of just go with healthy doses of repetition?  Check out the lyrics of this record’s title track and you’ll get it.  And yes, I know he’s still using repetition in the chorus…I get it…but like, I’m making a larger point about how poetic this dude can be when he really gets his pen moving and trying to encourage the rest of you to do the same, so let me have it.  Ummm…yeah…I don’t know if there’s much that could convince me that this isn’t the album’s best cut of the bunch if I’m being entirely honest with you.  Vocally, I think it’s an absolute gem and I could easily make a case for this being the best performance on the whole record when it comes to what’s coming through the microphone.  Hooks/accessibility-wise, this is so strong that I don’t think there’s any debate to be had at all, full stop.  Overall, something felt really different about listening to this particular song in the lineup…and I’m not quite sure I can pinpoint precisely what that is exactly…maybe it’s as simple as “Lost In Nicole Kidman” being the least Progressive tune in the whole lineup.  The less Progressive music tends to be, the more the level of accessibility rises – it’s math.  It’s proven math.  I think it’s freakin’ spellbinding though, truly.  From my perspective, it’s got this like, sound that’s wonderfully similar to something you might have once found on Fury In The Slaughterhouse’s album Mono, but with this like…smart Alt/Pop twist that adds something more along the lines of what you’d expect to hear from Vertical Horizon in the chorus…and I dig that combination very much.  I also think that the uniqueness pretty much can’t help but leap out at ya, and there’s value in that too of course.  Accessible uniqueness from a Progressive artist?  It’s virtually unheard of, but here we are and that’s what’s up!  Take the wins where you can find them dear readers, dear friends.  For real though – look at the title – “Lost In Nicole Kidman” – that alone should pique your curiosity!  Trust me when I tell you that the rest of the song that comes with the title is well worth every second of your time.  This felt like a real breakthrough…you can feel the inspiration that surges throughout this whole song, and I’m absolutely here for it.  I felt like I put grooves into this digital track, you feel me?  That’s how much I’ve been listening to it, and I’m 100% sure that I’m nowhere near done listening at this point now.  Hold onto your britches though folks, because I’m about to blow your mind – this is what Paul had to say about his title track:  “I was starting the fire and was using an old magazine.  A picture of Nicole Kidman staring at me launched me into my studio.  I wrote the song in 5 minutes.”  Now go back and look at how damn cool the artwork for this album is, and also recognize the fact that if he wanted to, Paul could be writing tunes like this in mere minutes’ worth of time…which is like…insane to have that kind of talent.  I’ll toss in a few other comparisons for ya…this could also be a cross between Something For Kate (if you judge by the beginning & verses) and something featuring Brendon Urie (if you judge it by what you hear in the finale and the bridge/chorus hooks).  So it’s got this like…kickass essence of indie street cred with more commercial potential that creeps in, but not at all in a pretentious way.  The lyrical imagery is vivid, the vocals are stellar, and the writing is sincere…this whole song is bulletproof.

“Palliative (For M & T)” is a quality tributary tune and a good conclusion for Paul’s latest album.  I would have thought that this would have been the toughest spot in the whole lineup to fill in coming after what we just experienced on “Lost In Nicole Kidman” before it, but “Palliative (For M & T)” manages to hold its own for sure.  I think we do have to acknowledge that in the final couple of track Denis makes a noticeable bend away from his normal Progressive tendencies, but listen to the effect that has had on the degree of accessibility and memorability of these last songs…it’s worth noting my friend.  All-in-all, I’m not suggesting that Denis simply becomes a Pop star instead of making the music he truly loves as a Progressive artist – in fact, I’d tell you that he’s doing something much more important, which is going where the sound takes him and doing what the songs call for.  He’s doing his material justice – and that matters in my world.  Sure he might label his music as Prog because that’s what it mainly is at the end of the day, but hearing that he’s not shying away from less complex compositions is all the proof you’d need to know he just wants to get the best out of the moment in the song at hand.  If that means he’s gonna lean a bit more towards Pop or whatever, then so be it…flexibility is one of the greatest parts of making music, and being willing to explore different avenues is so incredibly rewarding on a creative level.  You can discover things that work for your sound you might never have thought would work for you.  “Palliative (For M & T)” has a triumphant spirit at the core of it all…it’s the tale of another person that has lost their partner in life, but it’s also a reminder that these people we love continue to exist as part of who we are.  It’s very much a don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened type of song – but that’s also a large part of who Paul is and the way that he looks at life as far as I’ve ever been able to tell.  He knows what the depths of despair can be like to experience, but he’s been there, bought the T-shirt, and proven that he’s not able to be broken by it.  I love what he’s got here on “Palliative (For M & T)” – the story behind the song is tragic and undeniably heartbreaking, but Paul’s really tapped into something remarkable here in the way he’s been able to take such a devastating situation and turn it into an authentically empowering moment in time.  Even the design of the song follows that pattern.  At the start, you can hear the fragility in “Palliative (For M & T).”  Then you’ll drop into one of the saddest parts of a song that you’ve ever heard as a flat-line type of sound rings out before the lyrical line “there’s no one here but me” comes out.  And soon enough, after you’ve justifiably drained a box of Kleenex, you’ll get to the chorus and find this magnificently uplifting combination of music, vocals and lyrics, that you really gotta hand it to all involved once again – this is a wonderful, meaningful piece of musical art.

Another album to be proud of Paul – the mixture of substance & style is excellent.  Plus, the man got the opportunity to make this record with his son…and that’s the kind of memory that’ll last a lifetime.  He’s got a little something here for everyone in a set-list of genuinely moving material.  Well done my friend.

Find out more about Paul Denis from his official pages below! 

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pauldenismusic

Bandcamp:  https://pauldenis.bandcamp.com

Soundcloud:  https://soundcloud.com/user-710844618

Apple Music:  https://music.apple.com/us/artist/paul-denis/1565695581

Spotify:  https://open.spotify.com/artist/4eKCxSZkVFRFRxrcVqjENA

 

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