Dylan LeBlanc - Pastimes (EP) - 45RPM Orange Vinyl

Dylan LeBlanc has always sounded like he’s singing from a quiet room just off the main drag, where the lights are low and the tape keeps rolling until it captures something true. Pastimes, his covers EP released by ATO Records on June 18, 2021, leans all the way into that feeling. It’s a small set with a big heart, a chance to watch a thoughtful songwriter sit with the songs that shaped him and learn a little more about how his voice carries weight even when he isn’t the one holding the pen.

The most immediate draw is his take on Gentle on My Mind. John Hartford’s classic, made famous by Glen Campbell, has been covered hundreds of times, yet LeBlanc finds a different entry point. He doesn’t chase Campbell’s polish or Hartford’s river-running momentum. He curls inward instead, letting the lyric unspool with the soft patience that runs through his own catalog. The guitar shimmers, the rhythm breathes, and his falsetto lands like a late-night confession. It’s not flashy. It just feels right, which is the hardest thing to pull off with a song this well known.

Pastimes works because LeBlanc treats the material like living things. He knows when to stay still and when to lean. That’s a Muscle Shoals instinct, the kind you pick up growing up around studios where less is often more and space does the heavy lifting. You can hear that restraint in the way the arrangements leave room for air. Guitars glow rather than blaze. The low end moves with a slow pulse. If there’s an organ creeping in the background, it’s there to color the edges, not to take the wheel. The choices feel conversational, like a band that understands the assignment and trusts the song to do the talking.

Covers projects can slide into karaoke or turn into a statement of purpose. Pastimes sits in the sweet spot. It’s reverent without being stiff, casual without being careless. LeBlanc doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. He shifts the angle so the light hits familiar lines in a new way. You can hear how he listens to lyricists first. Even on the most recognizable cuts, the storytelling comes forward. Phrases you’ve heard a thousand times sharpen because he’s not in a hurry to move past them. He lets them hang until their weight shows up.

If you’ve followed LeBlanc from Paupers Field through Cautionary Tale and Renegade and on to Coyote, you already know his voice is a quiet knife. Pastimes just makes that clarity easier to appreciate. The EP also gives a little context for his catalog. You can connect the dots between the writers he’s drawn to and the songs he’s made on his own, from the high-lonesome corners to the dusky soul that sneaks into his melodies. It reminds you that he’s a student of craft as much as a performer, and that he understands how arrangement can turn a familiar melody into something that feels private.

There’s also a simple pleasure in hearing a great singer work inside strong bones. Pastimes is six songs of that pleasure, no more and no less, and that brevity helps. It plays like a short film with a steady tone, one you can flip and play again without fatigue. On vinyl, the warmth suits it. If you’re crate-digging for Dylan LeBlanc vinyl, keep an eye out for Pastimes vinyl alongside his full lengths. It’s an easy recommendation if you like to build a shelf where moods are as important as milestones. And if you prefer to buy Dylan LeBlanc records online, this is the kind of EP that slides into the cart almost by accident, then becomes a weeknight favorite.

I’ve stumbled across copies in small shops where the staff knows their Americana section by heart. The kind of place that might be tucked off a laneway in a Melbourne record store, surrounded by handwritten dividers and a staff pick tag that just says “quiet stunner.” That feels right for Pastimes. It’s not trying to be a capital-S Statement. It’s a postcard from a songwriter paying respect to the mapmakers who came before him.

If you’re new to LeBlanc, this won’t replace the full sweep of his albums. It’s not supposed to. But as a companion, it’s beautiful. The patience, the touch, the way he underlines a good line without shouting it. All of that is here. And if you’re already a fan building out Dylan LeBlanc albums on vinyl, this one fills a gap you didn’t realize you had until the needle drops and the room gets quiet. That’s the magic of a good covers record. It reminds you why you fell for songs in the first place.