New Audio: Montréal’s ce qui nous traverse Shares Expansive “. . . et des éclairs”

Founded in the shock wave of the 2012’s Quebec Student Protests, Montréal-based collective ce qui nous traverse seeks “to capture the intensive vibrations that compose the surrounding ambiances.”

Back in 2013, they release their self-titled debut EP. They followed up with a live improvised album 2014’s À l’écart and their full-length debut, 2016’s des lignes, which was released through Cuchabata Records to attention both nationally and internationally.

2021’s Le sacre de Sainte-Barbe is a concept album that thematically focused on the band’s singular relation to a small town in Southwestern Québec.

Earlier this year, Montréal-based collective ce qui nous traverse released Particules de Sainte-Barbe through Vancouver-based indie label Kingfisher Bluez. Particules de Sainte-Barbe was conceived as a complementary epilogue to their conceptual full-length debut, 2021’s Le sacre de Sainte-Barbe.

Much like its predecessor, the Montréal-based collective’s sophomore album thematically explores life in rural Québec and the nocturnal life. But the album’s material is orientated around an exploration of “the mysterious and enigmatic character of the anonymous villages that we pass by on the road without realizing it.” Written and recorded between Montréal and Sainte-Barbe in Montérégie, Québec, the collective’s twelve musicians created a mix of improvisation and original compositions that go across a wide range of styles and genres, including post-punk, jazz, shoegaze and more.

Particules de Sainte-Barbe‘s lead single “. . .et des éclairs” is an expansive bit of krautrock that begins with a dreamy and atmospheric introduction with twinkling percussion, followed a middle section that features a breakneck, motorik groove-driven gallop and reverb-drenched, shoegazer guitar textures before ending with a slow-burning fade out.

While sonically bringing fellow Montrealers Yoo Doo Right to mind, “. . . et des éclairs” evokes late night driving through country roads, seeing the endless blacktop and yellow-lines with everything else blurring past you.