For an entire year, Todd Hunter wasn't sure if he'd survive a debilitating illness that left his body ravaged, doctors confused, and his loved ones distanced.
Stints in and out of hospital, bedridden and increasingly disillusioned with the medical community, Todd's condition was a mystery. But as he started to research himself, he slowly found the answers in a very precise combination of diet and supplement. What doctors weren't able to diagnose, Todd was able to piece together, and he eventually healed himself, a testament to alternative medicine and one man's determination to be healthy again.
The experience also gave him fodder for a powerful song-cycle, the album "STAR" - documenting one man's descent and return.
This album was recorded over a year, one Monday evening at a time with producer/musician Mike Petkau. Todd and Mike would get together and slowly form these 10 songs into a bold, diverse and stately album.
Head In The Sand Records
Produced, Recorded & Mixed by Mike Petkau
Mastered by George Graves
REVIEWS
Uptown Magazine
A+
What a comeback. After receiving a flu shot in 2006, Todd Hunter became seriously sick with an illness that lasted for over a year. Now healthy, Hunter's back with his first solo album and, arguably, his strongest work. Star is a spacey, soaring set of pop-rock songs, slickly produced by Mike Petkau. On hard-rocker Tried, Hunter expresses frustration over his past frailty. You Are a Star is a danceable indie-pop song, while Trust No One shines with an R.E.M.-like sheen. But my favourite has to be Do That, the perfect choice to close the album. A song of hope and expectation, it proves Hunter never got lost in the darkness.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 stars
Indie pop songwriter, multi-talented musician and engineer Todd Hunter wrote his first solo album while recovering from a flu shot gone wrong. The album's 10 tracks tilt toward the sombre, but they are anything but miserable.
With ace producer/musician Mike Petkau on board, Star succeeds by avoiding current musical cliches and instead creates a vocabulary of unique musical language. There is a kind of unhurried naturalness about these songs that will bring you back to them. It could be Hunter's sweet lilt of a voice - just listening to him carry the velvety melodies into the stratosphere is worth the price of admission - or the sweet mix of vintage keyboards and deftly played acoustic instruments that make this album feel so moving. Standout tracks include You Are A Star, Do That and Whatever."
Sun Media
"...some of the most compelling music of his career."
Stints in and out of hospital, bedridden and increasingly disillusioned with the medical community, Todd's condition was a mystery. But as he started to research himself, he slowly found the answers in a very precise combination of diet and supplement. What doctors weren't able to diagnose, Todd was able to piece together, and he eventually healed himself, a testament to alternative medicine and one man's determination to be healthy again.
The experience also gave him fodder for a powerful song-cycle, the album "STAR" - documenting one man's descent and return.
This album was recorded over a year, one Monday evening at a time with producer/musician Mike Petkau. Todd and Mike would get together and slowly form these 10 songs into a bold, diverse and stately album.
Head In The Sand Records
Produced, Recorded & Mixed by Mike Petkau
Mastered by George Graves
REVIEWS
Uptown Magazine
A+
What a comeback. After receiving a flu shot in 2006, Todd Hunter became seriously sick with an illness that lasted for over a year. Now healthy, Hunter's back with his first solo album and, arguably, his strongest work. Star is a spacey, soaring set of pop-rock songs, slickly produced by Mike Petkau. On hard-rocker Tried, Hunter expresses frustration over his past frailty. You Are a Star is a danceable indie-pop song, while Trust No One shines with an R.E.M.-like sheen. But my favourite has to be Do That, the perfect choice to close the album. A song of hope and expectation, it proves Hunter never got lost in the darkness.
Winnipeg Free Press
4 stars
Indie pop songwriter, multi-talented musician and engineer Todd Hunter wrote his first solo album while recovering from a flu shot gone wrong. The album's 10 tracks tilt toward the sombre, but they are anything but miserable.
With ace producer/musician Mike Petkau on board, Star succeeds by avoiding current musical cliches and instead creates a vocabulary of unique musical language. There is a kind of unhurried naturalness about these songs that will bring you back to them. It could be Hunter's sweet lilt of a voice - just listening to him carry the velvety melodies into the stratosphere is worth the price of admission - or the sweet mix of vintage keyboards and deftly played acoustic instruments that make this album feel so moving. Standout tracks include You Are A Star, Do That and Whatever."
Sun Media
"...some of the most compelling music of his career."
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