Winter Wheat (album)

Last updated
Winter Wheat
Winter Wheat (album).jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedOctober 21, 2016
Genre Folk, Indie
Label ANTI-
Producer Jason Tait, Christine Fellows
John K. Samson chronology
Provincial
(2012)
Winter Wheat
(2016)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 85/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The A.V. Club B+ [3]
Exclaim! 9/10 [4]
The Line of Best Fit 8/10 [5]
Now Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [6]
PopMatters 8/10 [7]
Tom Hull B+ ( Five Pointed Star Solid.svg ) [8]
Uncut 8/10 [9]

Winter Wheat is the second solo album by John K. Samson, released on October 21, 2016, via ANTI-. [10] It is his first album of new material since The Weakerthans went on hiatus in 2015. [11]

The album was produced by Samson's Weakerthans bandmate Jason Tait and Christine Fellows, and also features contributions from his Weakerthans bandmate Greg Smith. [10] In an interview with The A.V. Club , Samson described the album as feeling in some ways like a new Weakerthans album rather than a solo project. [10]

The album was a longlisted nominee for the 2017 Polaris Music Prize. [12]

Track listing

  1. "Select All Delete"
  2. "Postdoc Blues"
  3. "Winter Wheat"
  4. "Requests"
  5. "Oldest Oak at Brookside"
  6. "Capital"
  7. "17th Street Treatment Centre"
  8. "Vampire Alberta Blues"
  9. "Carrie Ends the Call"
  10. "Fellow Traveller"
  11. "Quiz Night at Looky Lou's"
  12. "Alpha Adept"
  13. "Prayer for Ruby Elm"
  14. "VPW 13 Blues"
  15. "Virtute at Rest"

References

  1. "Reviews for Winter Wheat by John K. Samson". Metacritic . Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  2. Monger, Timothy. "Winter Wheat - John K. Samson". AllMusic . Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  3. Colburn, Randall. "The Weakerthans' John K. Samson navigates nature and technology on Winter Wheat". The A.V. Club . Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  4. Feibel, Adam. "John K. Samson: Winter Wheat". Exclaim! . Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  5. Cleeve, Sam (15 November 2016). "Winter Wheat depicts John K Samson's world, but you'll recognise it". The Line of Best Fit . Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  6. Williams, Matt (October 19, 2016). "Winter Wheat reminds us that John K. Samson is a singular voice in Canadian music". Now . Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  7. Gilstrap, Andrew (23 January 2017). "John K. Samson: Winter Wheat". PopMatters . Retrieved 17 August 2025.
  8. Hull, Tom. "Grade List: John K. Samson". Tom Hull – on the Web . Retrieved August 17, 2025.
  9. The mood is pained, the production suitably spare, pushing the singer's understated lyricism to the fore. [Jan 2017, p.28]
  10. 1 2 3 "Exclusive: The Weakerthans' John K. Samson announces new solo album, Winter Wheat". The A.V. Club , August 15, 2016.
  11. "John K. Samson Returns with 'Winter Wheat' Solo LP, Shares New Single". Exclaim! , August 15, 2016.
  12. "Gord Downie, Tragically Hip both make cut as Polaris Prize long list revealed". Toronto Star , June 13, 2017.