Stream: Calvin Love, ‘Sugar Hives’

Kevin Bronson on April 26th, 2017

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The orbit of Canadian singer-guitarist Calvin Love brought him to Los Angeles from his native Edmonton, back home and now back to L.A. again. Love, who does the May residency at the Bootleg Theater, decamped to L.A. in 2010 to play guitar in a local band. Moving on from that, he embarked on a solo career that has seen him release two albums, 2012’s “New Radar” and 2015’s “Super Future,” and, this month, the new EP “Ecdysis.” If the title implies Love is shedding his old skin, the new EP finds Love seemingly coming to grips with his new — through five songs flavored by slide guitar, piano, sax and his easy croon, he juggles bitter and sweet, working through his deepest issues in plain view. For instance: He begins the single “Sugar Hives,” Love addresses alcohol addiction: “Tastes so sweet / Can’t say no / Why have one when you know you can have it all?” “In 2016 I took a step back and I rewired my focus,” he says. “During this time I was fraught with illusions of pressure, frustration, failure and fear. There were days when I was swimming in a dark ocean of self-doubt. But as quickly as those thoughts appeared, I let them go. I gathered resilience. I willed those thoughts to leave my mind, and I began to feel a shift. I forgot about trying to win the race, and I started to enjoy the journey.” He’s made it pretty enjoyable to listen to as well.

||| Stream: “Sugar Hives” and “Warm Blindness & a Cool Breeze”