The new single from Nova Scotia’s Ian Janes is not so much a cautionary tale about any misadventures that involve holding your hand to a flame as it is a commiseration. Sometimes, for the sake of our own survival, we can be expected to have more sense than a common month and yet these ill-advised dalliances of the heart seem to happen again and again.
So, we have Janes’ “Shouldn’t Be Calling You”, an inevitable track wreck that we wouldn’t turn away from even if we could. It’s for all the Rons and Tammys of the world who knew better all along and just can’t help themselves.
“Shouldn’t Be Calling” feels like it was handed down, directly from some of the greatest artists of pop and R&B, before being reworked by Jonathan Wolff. We’re immediately launched into the song with a bit of percussion reminiscent of Isaac Hayes’ critically and commercially successful theme for “Shaft” before veering into bass/guitar combo that’s equally as quirky as it is fun The song takes a major lift, with Ian Janes backpedalling on bad choices but with a vibe so light that no one is convinced he won’t do it again.
“Sucker for your punishment/Careful what you wish comes true/So I shouldn’t be calling you/Shouldn’t be calling you,” sings Janes like he’s made a weekly habit of it.
“I wrote ‘Shouldn’t Be Calling You’ on this trashy little guitar that has since fallen apart,” says Ian Janes. “I guess it just happened to be close by when the idea came to me. It never fails to fascinate me how often we self-sabotage; romantically or otherwise. This song has some fun examining how, sometimes, we just can’t help ourselves.”
“This started out as a pretty traditional soul song, and then things kind of escalated. I emailed drummer John O’Reilly the basic track, told him to have some fun, and he sent me back two live drum kits, percussion, and some deadly LinnDrum beats.
“After adding a ton of vintage keys, a twangy guitar solo and a fiery horn arrangement, it somehow still needed something. Enter background singers Zamani and Owen O’Sound Lee. Sometimes more…is more.”
The resulting song falls somewhere between The Jackson 5’s “ABC” and Al Green’s “Here I Am (Come and Take Me)” and, as far as songs about helplessly committing yourself to making the same mistakes again and again can go, it’s an awfully good time.