Introduce Yerself

They say when the end is near, your life flashes before your eyes. In the throes of a cancer battle, Gord Downie opted instead to slow down the film and analyze it frame by frame. Completed shortly before his passing in October 2017, Introduce Yerself isn’t a solemn meditation on death, but a rousing celebration of life—23 magical-realist vignettes, each centred around an important person in his life. The combination of Downie’s vivid lyrics and producer Kevin Drew’s surreal soundscapes makes it feel like you’ve been dropped into the middle of his soft-focus memories, be it the heart-racing, piano-powered disco sprint of “Spoon” (about a friendship forged over a mutual love of the namesake band) or the dinner-party atmosphere of the folk serenade “Nancy.” But the most breathtaking moment comes with “Far Away and Blurred,” a celestial ballad that sounds like it’s drifting toward the white light of the heavens.