Nanaimo musician Jamie Penner has released his newest album Something a Little Different, blending rock, orchestration, ambient textures and jazz-inspired moods.
Released May 9, this is Penner's seventh album since his first, Out of Curiosity, debuted in 2020. Something a Little Different features 11 tracks including two with blues-rock musician James Vickers, and one that is a full instrumental re-imagining of Spaceship Superstar by Prism.
Penner told the News Bulletin that Something a Little Different would be enjoyed by those who grew up with 1970s and 1980s Canadian classic rock.
"The new album puts together a bunch of sounds," Penner said. "Progressive rock, ambient, cinematic, blues – there's a lot of dynamic sounds. This one I literally wanted to be a bunch of different things, so Something a Little Different kind of points to each and every song."
Penner has been no stranger to covers, but the 1977 song Spaceship Superstar was a special one for him.
"That was the song, when I was a kid, that made me go, 'Wow, I would love to learn to play guitar and play that song.' It's almost a lifelong thing to come all the way around to be able to play that."
The single has no voice track, excluding using the keyboard to synthetically add the most well-known phrase in the lyrics: "got a solar-powered laser beam guitar."
"The original singer, Ron Tabak, his vocals in that are amazing and it wasn't something I wanted to compete with doing another vocal version," Penner said. "So it became a challenge to replicate the vocal melodies with guitar."
He said that while he is friends with Al Harlow, the current leader of Prism, he kept the cover a secret right until he was about to record the final vocal melody. After hearing it, Harlow sent a copy to Jim Vallance, the original writer, who reportedly enjoyed it.
"It's always a little bit nerve-racking to talk to somebody who performs the original song or wrote the original song about a rewrite and just how they're going to take it being done."
For more information and to purchase the album, people can go to Penner's website at http://jamiepenner.com.
"Definitely have a listen to the songs," Penner said. "If you haven't heard the music before, have a listen. There's lots of songs to choose from. I'm already working on the next album."
