Album Review: Bahamas - "My Second Last Album"

Afie Jurvanen continues to thrive on My Second Last Album. Despite its title, I feel like he's got a lot more to offer in the future than simply one more album, since he continues to make compelling singer songwriter music that's equally memorable as it is entertaining.

Brushfire - 2025

Afie Jurvanen is a singer, jokester, and songwriter based in Canada and he's been making heartful, cheeky songs under the Bahamas name for over fifteen years now. I've always found the "Bahamas" name to be pretty ambiguous for a Canadian singer songwriter, but he's made sunny, breezy music to go along with it. So why not I guess? Releasing music under Jack Johnson's Brushfire label, Jurvanen likes to paint sonic pictures with his guitar ripping, vocals that range from husky to honeyed, and lyrics that can make you teary eyed or chuckle. After releasing folk rock records like Pink Strat, Barchords and Bahamas Is Afie, Jurvanen got even better and more personal as a songwriter, singer, collaborator and instrumentalist. He's dabbled more into other genres like smooth R&B and funk on Earthtones and Sad Hunk, and dove into country with Bootcut.

Now he's back with his seventh album, cheekily titled My Second Last Album. Knowing Jurvanen's tendencies to pull the listener's legs a little, this probably isn't his second last album (and if you look at the album art, "last" is scratched out and replaced with "best"). Like any classic Bahamas record, there are mixes of breezy folk, soft rock, soul, and pop. There's still the charm and wit and you are reminded even on the album's opening line: "Found you there hiding in the sauna / and you laughed at me when I called it marijuana." The opener, "Sauna," might be the most carefree, breezy and blissful song I've heard from Jurvanen. It's softly strung guitar and serenading vocals are hard to turn away from. Lead single "The Bridge" is another blissful trek with woodwinds, sax, and harmonies that are perfect for your relaxing hammock nap. Jurvanen contemplates the country life or the town life on "Country for the Town," a quaint acoustic folk tune. There are lovely tones of fluttering piano and flute on "Ready for a New Thing." "Play the Game" goes into baroque balladry with fuzzy guitars, while "Feels So Good" is a moody, smooth piano ballad with sharper, passionate vocals. "In Country" closes the album in a more serious tone, being about Jurvanen's Canadian heritage and his family's Finnish immigrant experience. It's celebratory and independent, where Jurvanen is embracing who he is and his stance that Canada is for everyone to live in. It's a beautiful sentiment and the track's drifting guitars, piano and drums tie it all together seamlessly.

Afie Jurvanen continues to thrive on My Second Last Album. Despite its title, I feel like he's got a lot more to offer in the future than simply one more album, since he continues to make compelling singer songwriter music that's equally memorable as it is entertaining. Like his past records, the production and mixing is excellent and the charm and personality is certainly here. There are nice ballads and there are certified Bahamas bangers that can certainly be year-end favorites. It's definitely one of his prettiest records he's released yet, with woodwinds, sax, and flutes adding nice touches to the songs themselves. Sure it's short, sweet, and to the point but what's not to like? If he's always going to be churning out material like this, I'll be in line for the next album.

My Rating: 7 / 10

Favorite Songs: "Sauna," "The Bridge," "In Country," "Play the Game"