You’d need a compelling reason to leave paradise on your own accord. In creating distance from his upbringing in a sparsely populated sugarcane town in northeast Australia, country and soul troubadour Mikhail Laxton’s decision has seemingly been validated. No one’s ever mistaken the Ottawa area for a tropical utopia, but that’s where Laxton, flanked by his wife and young son, has anchored his musical career for the past seven years.

That push and pull between where Laxton’s been, and the life he’s built, lies at the heart of his self-titled debut album. Even as he moves forward — as an artist, husband, and father — he can’t help but stare back at the rear-view.

On “Mossman,” Laxton reminisces about ocean breezes, sugarcane fields and sunsets with his childhood pals. It’s “the kind of place you never want to leave; Lord knows she’s been calling me,” he sings over electric country rock chords. “I’m talking ‘bout paradise. … That’s where I want to be.” Yes, there are feel-good reveries about beachside bonfires and summer love─the sort of tunes that sound best while cruising up a one-lane highway for a long weekend at the lake.

But Laxton also never shies away from the painful and confusing moments of his young adulthood. He revisits his relationship with his father, a man whose addiction subsumed his own musical talents — and, ultimately, his life — in “Dying to Let You Go” and “Four String Cowboy.” Bad breakups and personal betrayals take centre-stage on other tracks, demonstrating that even Australian cowboys get the blues.

At a new stage of his life and career, and thousands of miles from the world he left behind, Laxton possesses the degree of removal necessary to process and appreciate his highs and lows. There’s a nostalgia for all of it.

www.mikhaillaxton.com | @mikhail.laxton