Second preview of Canadian artist’s upcoming debut album Losing Time confirms he is an alt-country star on the rise
On the heels of his warmly received debut single “Before You Go,” Canadian singer-songwriter D.B. Tait is sharing “Nothing To Lose,” another tantalizing glimpse of his forthcoming full-length release Losing Time. Like its predecessor, the song shows Tait working the same modern Americana pastures as Greg Freeman and Ryan Davis, adding hints of indie rock to complement the desperation at the heart of his stunning vocals.
Tait says of “Nothing To Lose,”
“It was inspired by being ready to take a significant next step in a relationship, whether it be romantic or platonic. It’s a feeling of being ready to fully throw oneself into something, and committing to that with every bit of heart you have. That sense of having nothing left to lose and leaping forward has helped guide me through my life, in terms of both music and other relationships. I’ve come to understand it as a true desire to change and adopt a path forward or, in some cases, another direction.”
As with “Before You Go,” Tait recorded “Nothing To Lose” and the rest of the upcoming album (release date TBC), largely in his home studio in Ontario’s Prince Edward County, tracking most of the guitars and vocals on his own. Close collaborators Ian Roantree and Mitch Cory from the band Kojak added overdubs, while fellow Prince Edward County singer-songwriter and Littleknown Records head David James Allen handled the mix.
Since co-founding Kojak in 2018, Tait has gradually embraced a parallel path as a solo artist in order to express different themes of life’s everyday problems and how facing them helps to break free of destructive cycles. His songs explore how these actions affect love, death, relationships with friends, and the need to gain control of one’s self-governance. In naming the album Losing Time, Tait is essentially taking up the fight for all of us against letting our personal hourglasses run out.
Along with taking inspiration from the current generation of roots-based singer-songwriters, Tait’s sound draws from a multitude of genres, from traditional folk and country blues to rock and roll-tinged Americana, resulting in songs that range from delicate acoustic balladry, to bouncy blues and shimmering folk rock—essentially everything covered by the Americana umbrella. Overall, it feels like a journey through the last 60 years of classic Canadian and American music.
“Leaning into roots rock, alt-country type of stuff has been fun, and it feels like a natural place for me to be,” Tait says. “What I love about a lot of that music are the imperfections and the humanity of it all. The lack of polish makes it feel real.”