Constantines

Named after the street in Toronto’s vibrant Kensington Market area where they practice in a basement, Kensington Heights, like the neighbourhood itself, is a vibrant maze of histories and sounds. The album is fittingly dedicated to the late Gar Gillies, the Winnipeg amp-maker who designed and built the Garnet amplifiers that defined the overdriven classic Canadian-rock sound of the Guess Who and BTO. From the massive opening number, Hard Feelings (“Some people’s love isn’t strong enough”) to the gorgeous thudding close of Do What you Can Do (“You do what you can do with what you got”), Kensington Heights is a tour of original themes and multiple genres, full of infectious hooks and evocative lyrics.