(LP) Gord Downie - Away Is Mine (2LP)

Away Is Mine is Gord Downie's final solo recording, recorded at The Tragically Hip's studio in Bath, Ontario, in July 2017. A questing and idiosyncratic work steered to life by "my oldest Toronto friend," guitarist and co-writer Josh Finlayson, the last ten songs Gord wrote hold fast to his unwavering artistic spirit, deft hand with words and forever inscrutable sense of humour as he locks eyes head-on with the Great Inevitability. Away Is Mine is a contemplation on Gord's life – a document of an artist disappearing into his art, essentially becoming his art through that process. Presented as a double album with Electric and Acoustic versions, the 20-track collection highlights Gord’s poetic mastery with vibrant yet haunting production by Nyles Spencer that casts each song in different otherworldly light. Downie and Finlayson recorded in a burst of live takes over three days with Travis Good of The Sadies on fiddle, mandolin, and guitars, and drum parts shared by Dave "Billy Ray" Koster and Lou Downie (Gord's son). Like all of the music and poetry and the memories and the genius that Gord gifted us during his 53 years on our planet, it is immortal – and yet it took a fearless reckoning with his own mortality to get us here.

Tracklist