Release Date: December 15, 2018
Genre: Alternative Rock, Folk
Label: Independent
The Rainy Day Apparel is the brainchild of Manitoba musician, Nathan Strange. Strange’s venture into writing and performing through this musical project started all the way back in 2002. Reset is the first collection of music released by The Rainy Day Apparel and these five songs were mixed by Jordan Wiberg in British Columbia. Wiberg has previously worked with Canadian artists Jon Bryant, Sykamore, Paul Brandt, and many others.
Reset came to fruition after Strange had a year-long time issue with back pain. The eventual diagnosis was a herniation near his spine that fully pinched his sciatic nerve and eventually required surgery and months of recovery. During Strange’s time searching for a diagnosis, and well after the back surgery, Strange needed, he put his focus into his music. This allowed Strange to put his heart and soul into The Rainy Day Apparel project and produced the songs that eventually became Reset.
The five-song effort begins with the number “Matches.” The track touches on the burden of grief that comes from leaving or running away from someone or something and knowing you can’t return. His lyrics are saturated with this message, coming through most prominently in the lines “I was only hoping to fix what’s broken / I picked a wonderful time to run / You can’t run from your demons / But you can light a fire, and they’re no match for you.”
The theme of recovery can be heard in the words of the track “Thaw Me Out;” “Good things come to those who wait / It all seems a little too late / The glaring sun shows the damage done / It’s staying for the long run / Thaw me out.” The EP’s title track, “Reset,” follows the mindset of a bad day and wanting nothing more than to wake up in the sunshine of tomorrow. This comes through in the lines, “Start again; start again / I’m hoping for just one more day / As I wish today away.” The theme of love sends sparks from the track “Why Would I?” with the lines, “I think with my heart / I can’t get you off my mind / Why in the hell would I? / Why would I?”
During my first listen of Reset, the EP’s themes and the tone of the music, particularly the track “Thaw Me Out,” took me back to a time I was just released from the hospital in the spring of 2008. After a two-week stay, which resulted in numerous tests and a failed medical procedure. The songs took me back to a cold spring morning on one of the many days I was recovering. With the warm sun peeking through the cracks of the window onto my bed, along with the fragrance of morning dew mixing with the thawing soil blowing through my cracked window adjacent to my bed.
By fusing his infectious melodies, vocal harmonies, genuine songwriting, and simple melodic guitar playing throughout the record, this EP stands out in its own right. Strange’s unique blend of country twang with a mix of folk and alt. rock adds to the greatness of the five-song effort.
The stand-out tracks off the EP have to be “Matches,” “Thaw Me Out,” and the EP’s title track, “Reset.” Listening to Reset, will leave you wanting more. Hopefully, a full-length album is in the cards for The Rainy Day Apparel to solve that desire listeners are sure to be left with.
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