Coming out incredibly strong on their debut record A Lonesome Gathering, we’re loving everything about this first offering from Such Great Buzzes. Keep reading for a closer look at the record, as well as a background on the band.

Currently representing the music scene in Ontario, Canada, Such Great Buzzes are putting together an inspired mix of alternative folk with a heavy emphasis on imagery-filled lyricism. On their debut album A Lonesome Gathering, the group has so eloquently created this cohesive listen that grips the listener from the opening notes and doesn’t let go until the final moments. It feels like a serious revitalization that the folk genre needed, and with that, we truly can’t wait for everyone out there to give it a spin.

Led by Matthew Kowalyk who’s been writing music since the young age of 15, he’s a lifelong storyteller who’s only continued to hone his craft. Now while the entirety of A Lonesome Gathering certainly hinges on some extremely compelling instrumental passages at times, it’s hard to deny that the listener is absorbed at the beginning through these complex messages. Through 12 total tracks that span right around the 50 minute mark, there’s a definite atmosphere and vision that we feel the band sought out to create. You get introduced via “East to Kingston”, but on the way are these peaks and valleys of mood changes in addition to everything else going on.

While we already know we need to come back for a second time around just to begin to attempt to break down all the messaging, on our first runthrough, the cohesion of it all is what stuck out the most. In today’s music landscape it’s so difficult to leave you with that full “album experience” feeling at the end, but thankfully A Lonesome Gathering has achieved that. Through its raw, intimate, and utterly original tracks, our specific standouts had to be “Ink on Canvas”, “A Man Named Evil”, and the closer “In The Before Times”. All songs had their highlights, that’s no doubt, but something particularly stuck about those that will have us coming back undoubtedly. If this happens to be your introduction to the band, we’d still suggest you start at the beginning.

As we patiently wait for a follow up, go ahead and click those links below to listen, follow along, and of course to keep up with all future releases and information.

Listen to A Lonesome Gathering

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Such Great Buzzes debut their intimate & original album, "A Lonesome Gathering"