Wax Mannequin (aka Hamilton, Ontario’s Christopher Adeney) is many things to many people. A lyricist, songsmith and self-effacing showman certainly, but also a student of the human psyche, constantly finding fresh and interesting ways to frame the people we are and the things we encounter.

All of that is gloriously displayed on the seventh Wax Mannequin album, Have A New Name, the result of Adeney reuniting with producer Edwin Burnett, with whom he made some of the first Wax Mannequin recordings in the early 2000s. Working in a small east-end Hamilton industrial space containing an array of vintage and modern gear, the pair—along with percussionist Mark Raymond—crafted Have A New Name’s eight songs out of semi-impromptu sessions that eventually expanded with the addition of grand piano, gamba da viola, double bass and a 12 piece choir. The end product is the most sonically ambitious Wax Mannequin album to date, and also arguably the most powerful.

As an example, Adeney points to the album’s closing track “Longest Hour,” an atmospheric travelogue that never lags over the course of its nearly nine minutes. Other songs on Have A New Name such as “Basketball” and “Squirmy Wormy” are rooted in whimsy, while the songs “Someone Fixed The Game” and “People Can Change” display a maturity that signals Wax Mannequin is indeed more than capable of reaching wider audiences without sacrificing any of his edge.

With Have A New Name, Christopher Adeney has made a Wax Mannequin album utterly necessary for this moment in time. Challenging and earthy, funny and heartbreaking, in search of answers yet rooted in hard-earned wisdom.

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