B-Side Guys

Detours reveal dimensions. Released February 18th, “Way Through”—the title track from Toronto supergroup Cici Arthur’s forthcoming album—transforms pandemic-era bicycle wanderings into orchestral meditation on dashed hopes and the beauty of recalibration.

The trio—comprising Joseph Shabason, Chris A. Cummings, and Thom Gill—crafts a soundscape where grand musical ambition meets intimate lyrical restraint. Cummings’ vocals navigate a deliberately subverted adult contemporary aesthetic, one where brass sections swell with cinematic intensity while the lyrics maintain unflinching realism: “What good are dead ends when I’m looking through a way through/When the miracle you’d hoped for never comes it’s hard to take, but it’s your fault for hoping.”

This tension between orchestral majesty and emotional modesty reflects the song’s origin story. After losing his twenty-year career during COVID’s early shockwaves, Cummings began exploring unfamiliar areas of Toronto by bike, discovering new pathways through familiar territory. These physical journeys mirror the track’s emotional landscape—navigating expectation, resignation, and the unexpected beauty found when planned routes collapse.

Owen Pallet’s thirty-piece orchestra creates a lush backdrop that could easily overwhelm lesser vocals, but Cummings’ measured delivery acts as perfect counterpoint. His unadorned phrasing, complemented by Dorothea Paas’s glassy harmonies, brings literary weight to musical grandeur. When brass sections crest with weary sweetness, they underscore rather than overshadow the lyrical examination of diminished expectations.

Most striking is how the production marries mid-century orchestral opulence with contemporary vulnerability. Shabason’s previous collaborative projects have often blended sophistication with accessibility, but “Way Through” pushes this approach to panoramic heights without sacrificing intimacy. The arrangement recalls Capitol Records’ heyday while the sentiment remains firmly grounded in present-day emotional pragmatism.

“Way Through” ultimately captures that disorienting moment when familiar cross streets suddenly appear after wandering unfamiliar territory—when we realize we’ve been circling our own neighborhoods all along, seeing them from perspectives we never imagined possible.