Let’s face it; singer-songwriters are the blue jeans of the music world. In any given town at any given time there are hundreds of sensitive, callus-fingered young men in bedrooms, basements, dorms and walk-in-closets hunched over an acoustic guitar, an ashtray and a green-bottled import. Whether they’re dreaming of becoming the next Nick Drake, Jack Johnson or Dallas Green, or just trying to hook up with some pretty young thing is irrelevant. The point is, they’re a dime-a-dozen, their sheer quantity rendering them basically - if unfairly - irrelevant. To stand out from this crowd, it takes someone with a truly special skill. Enter Hollis, a young under-the-radar musician from Montreal, Quebec, whose much anticipated debut album ‘Weird Fiction’ has finally been released. And it was worth the wait. Hollis’ voice quivers with anxiety (“Call in the Captain”) as easily as it croons softly (album highlight “Tenth Time Around” and “Fevered Fields”), as he weaves a rich new narrative in each of the eleven tracks. Whether he’s reminiscing about a childhood spent amongst cornstalks (“Country Ways”), telling the tale of a gambling man lost at sea (”Six Hundred Nautical Miles”), or waxing eloquent about crooked politicians and possessed hunters with kings and tomatoes in their crosshairs (“Hook In a Fish Eye”), Hollis crafts his lyrics carefully, with a richness and poetry rarely seen in modern music. And the sound is equally as good. With jaw-dropping folk-tinged guitar playing, sweeping melodies, subtle but deft production (recorded straight to tape at Sound Module in Montreal) and mastering by the infamous Ryan Morey (the Arcade Fire’s “Funeral”) the album is an undeniably warm, sonic experience from start to finish. From start to finish, Weird Fiction proves Hollis is one of a dying breed: a singer-songwriter who should not be ignored. - matt henderson.