Review: Don Amero, The Next Chapter

Singer/songwriter Don Amero would doubtless cop to being a hopeless romantic. And the seven songs on his lean (only 20 minutes!) The Next Chapter explore the merits of being perennially smitten from some pleasingly original angles, including reincarnation as a mug of joe (“Morning Coffee,” delivered with a subtle wink) and a woman’s essence as a metaphor for song (“Music Lover,” a little more straight-faced this time). 

But while love dominates thematically — resulting in songs mostly pastel in hue, and largely ballad-y and acoustic —our man successfully sidebars, notably on not taking anything for granted (“The One That You Want Back,” in this case “the one” being a moment in time rather than a squeeze) and personal agency (“On Down the Road”). Throughout, Amero’s effortless voice delivers it all declaratively; we buy in because he already has.

Even if it sounds like a dis, which I promise it’s not, the words that kept popping to mind while spinning through The Next Chapter were “exceedingly pleasant.” That may not be as sexy as some turns of phrase, but the album sure made a cloudy Sunday afternoon just that.

The Next Chapter was released September 25, 2020 on MDM Recordings/Universal Music Canada.
Listen to it here.