CREDIT: DINE ALONE
There was always a contrast between the records and what came across on stage. If I Should Go Before You is a conscious attempt to wed these two worlds.

Despite having left Alexisonfire nearly five years and four albums ago, many people still regard City and Colour as a side project. Perhaps this is from some animosity for killing the stampeding beast that was Alexisonfire, but this could simply be due to the seemingly unfinished nature of Dallas Green’s songs.

His initial releases were compiled of a lifetime of bedroom tracks and demos, which is fine if you’re just doing an independent folk thing. The real issue came with a sense of stagnation in the following records. Sure, Green experimented with guest musicians and different band configurations over the years, but nothing really seemed to click and cause an evolution within the singer-songwriter.

Nothing that is, until If I Should Go Before You. This latest album, released on Oct. 9, is perhaps the biggest step that Green has taken since leaving Alexisonfire.

It’s funny that he should come to such a unique record in the midst of announcing the Alexisonfire reunion. Perhaps the pressure of competition started a fire within him.

If I Should Go Before You is an incredible blend of southern-rock and blues-rock that resonates with Green’s lyrics in a way that wasn’t captured in his previous work.

Recorded live off the floor with his touring band, it’s easy to hear the chemistry within the band translate into the music. It’s rare that you can capture true sense of performance in recordings, but that was Green’s vision for the album.

The sweltering nine-minute opener “Woman” sets the tone for this album, pinning Green’s ethereal vocals against a wall of guitars that swell and layer throughout the song. From the first note, Green shows us that this is going to be a very different record.

We see the typical battle with his inner demons throughout this record. Only this time they’re attributed to family and friends, displaying a battle with mortality and his responsibilities to those he loves.

The album takes violent swings from somber and brooding songs like “Northern Blues” to up swung and lively tracks such as “Mizzy C” and “Wasted Love”. It’s hard to believe this is the same Green that brought us the trepid “Comin’ Home” when we listen to the raw passion on this album.

The latter portion of If I Should Go Before You takes on a decidedly more country tone, peppered with warm steel guitar licks, upright piano and twangy guitar riffs. When recording in Nashville it’s hard not to bask in wealth of the southern influences and talent.

In the second half of this album, even his somber lyrics come across as happy sorrows. The new writing format seems to have swept Green away into a whirlwind of refreshed inspiration and wonder.

The album’s final track “Blood” seems to be a throwback to some of his earlier work, and in contrast to such an experimental and novel album, it’s a welcome change. It reminds listeners of where he came from, while carefully painting it with all the colours of his new direction.

If I Should Go Before You is perhaps some of Green’s best work since leaving Alexisonfire. It’s decidedly more of a ‘band’ album than it is a solo side project, and the energy of the musicians translates effortlessly. I was jumping for joy at the reboot of Alexisonfire, but after sitting down with his latest album, it’s hard to pick a corner in the fight for Dallas Green.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5