The joyful chaos of Alvvays' Blue Rev

Indie pop band Alvvays' Blue Rev is one of this year's 10 Polaris Music Prize-nominated albums, and CBC Music's Shortlist Shortcut series is back to help music fans find out the key details about the shortlisted record. Dig into the stories behind the albums, the tracks you need to know, and the perfect summer activities to complement your listening. You can also listen to The Ten radio special on the album, below.

Artist:

Alvvays.

Album:

Blue Rev.

Polaris Music Prize history: 

Alvvays has two previous shortlist appearances — the band landed on the list in 2015 for Alvvays and again in 2018 for Antisocialites. 

Story behind the nominated album: 

Five years after Alvvays' Antisocialites, a hurricane of bad luck struck the band causing a domino effect: a thief stole lead singer Molly Rankin's demos and the next day, a flooded basement threatened to destroy their gear. Then, the border was closed due to the pandemic, leaving the band's new rhythm section unable to rehearse together. But Alvvays found triumph in the chaos, using those hurdles as springboards, resulting in an album that's purposefully louder, brasher and more fun than before.

Blue Rev is named after the electric blue vodka coolers that Rankin and keyboardist Kerri MacLellan drank in Cape Breton as teens. With lyrics about the sugary drink to lines about Inverness, much of the power pop album is coloured with splashes of nostalgia about growing up on the East Coast. Alvvays uses Blue Rev to analyze the certainty of change and how time condenses, while also looking ahead to a precarious future. It contains anthems for outcasts — spinsters, college dropouts, etc. — and cheekily celebrates those who forge their own paths. Lyrically there's whiplash, as the songs look at the consequences of the choices we make in life, but also question how we, like Alvvays, are continually in a state of transformation.

Notable players:

The album was co-produced by six-time Grammy-winner Shawn Everett, whose credits include work with Kacey Musgraves, Alabama Shakes, the Killers and more.

Standout songs: 

'After the Earthquake'

This explosive breakup song roars with jangly guitar and takes inspiration from the Haruki Murakami story collection, After the Quake. Rankin boldly belts "Are you awake now?" as the track crashes outwards like an aftershock.

'Belinda Says'

The album's quasi-title track, which mentions drinking Blue Rev behind the skating rink, is named after "Heaven is a Place on Earth" singer Belinda Carlisle (who is a fan of the song). "Belinda says that heaven is a place on earth/ Well so is hell," Rankin sings at the tail-end of the song after painting a picture of a woman taking command of her life by settling in the countryside to have a baby.

Recommended if you like:

Tennis, Beach House or Japanese Breakfast.

Summer activity pairing:

A summer road trip is the perfect backdrop for listening to Blue Rev, as the vivid imagery in the songs goes hand in hand with cruising in a car down endless stretches of tree-lined highways.

Don't miss Shortlist Summer: a season-long showcase of the 10 albums shortlisted for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize. Read the weekly Polaris Shortlist Shortcut feature at cbcmusic.ca/polaris and tune into The Ten radio special every Sunday night at cbc.ca/listen.