NEW RELEASE

KIM MITCHELL – “Alana Loves Me (New 2014 version)” (iTunes-only single)

Kim’s last studio album, 2007’s Ain’t Life Amazing, failed to blow me away.  Since then he’s been very busy, changing to a career in radio at Toronto’s Q107.  While I miss the days of being able to look forward to new Kim music every other summer, he’s been very popular and successful at Q, so good for him!

A few weeks ago, Kim announced that he’d re-recorded his old hit “Alana Loves Me” from Shakin’ Like A Human Being, a 28 year old song.  The original is sounding pretty dated with all those 80’s synths and keyboards, so I approached this with an open mind.  Plunking down my hard-earned $1.29, I bought “Alana Loves Me 2014” on iTunes.

Even though I had not expected too much, I am crushed with disappointment!  All the charm of the original has been sucked dry with a boring acoustic arrangement.  This snooze-inducing rendition only comes to life towards the end, when it goes into a more interesting laid-back instrumental band arrangement.  The piano player (Ray Coburn?) is excellent and has a long solo.  Then, finally, Kim himself picks up an electric guitar and does what he does best.  He proves he’s still the most underrated guitarist that this country has to offer.  His solo is awesome, warm and melodic, but tricky too.

So: first half of the track sucks, and the second instrumental half isn’t bad.  How do I rate it?

2/5 stars