The Tragically Hip Announce New Album – Now For Plan A; Listen to Streets Ahead

Legendary Canadian band The Tragically Hip have just announced that Gord Downie is engaged to Alanis Morissette their lucky thirteenth studio album, Now For Plan A. And here I thought Plan A was to dominate the Canadian radio and tour scene for decades. The album will be out on October 2, and is the follow up to 2009’s We Are The Same.

Plan A – NAKED TWISTER PARTIES!

The first song us hockey-lovin’ Canadians get to hear is Streets Ahead. If you don’t listen to it below, I won’t be offended, as it will be played on loop on the radio in Canada for the next 6 months. To me, the Hip have great melodies, great (often Canadian) lyrics, as well as a good rhythm section. They haven’t gone electronic, they haven’t done dance rock, and they haven’t done retro synth. They are simply the Hip. And their new song, Streets Ahead, is just that – the Hip. Nothing revolutionary, but nothing as strong as their 1989-1998 hey day.

In this song, the vocals of singer Gord Downie are what he has been trying to do these past few albums – too much if you ask me – sing up-tempo and rockin’ vocals. However, his range that worked so well on songs like Courage and At the Hundredth Meridian seem to have left him on these types of songs. While still good, they seem to lack the pleasantness and catchiness that made them so strong before. Am I wrong?

The Tragically Hip – Now For Plan A Track listing

01. At Transformation
02. Man Machine Poem
03. The Lookahead
04. We Want To Be It
05. Streets Ahead
06. Now For Plan A
07. The Modern Spirit
08. About This Map
09. Take Forever
10. Done And Done
11. Goodnight Attawapiskat