Tag: Foreign Diplomats

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Frais Dispo Returns with Strutting Yet Meditative “Habitat”

Montréal-based indie rock outfit Frais Dispo — Élie Raymond (guitar, vocals), Antoine Lévesque-Roy (bass), Thomas Bruneau Faubert (trombone, synths), Charles Primeau (guitar) and Antoine Gallois (drums) — is simultaneously a rebrand and a markedly radical direction for its members, who first gained attention across both Quebec and Canada as Foreign Diplomats. As Frais Dispo, the Montréal-based outfit have adopted a much more collaborative songwriting approach with lyrics written and sung completely in French.

2023’s Teinte, the newly rebranded band’s full-length debut and last year’s Les teints du ciel n’ont aucun sens EP found Frais Dispo quickly and firmly establishing a markedly new sonic direction with their sound drawing much more alt-country, folk and indie rock.

Building upon the attention that Teinte and Les tients du ciel n’int aucun sens EP received in the Francophone world, the Montréal-based outfit’s highly-anticipated sophomore album is slated for a 2026 release through Audiogram. The album will feature, the gorgeous, psych country-meets-Laurel Canyon-like “Dire je t’aime au téléphone,” “Mes amis m’haïssent,” and the album’s third and latest single “Habitat.”

Frais Dispo’s forthcoming sophomore album sees the band adopting a more laid-back, spontaneous songwriting approach throughout the entire creative process. The album’s tracks were recorded live to make the songs live and breathe — and to help create a much more organic sound. As “Dire je t’aime au téléphone” ends, you hear a bit of murmured voices, laughter, and a brief sigh and a phone ringing, which gives the listener a sense of being in the studio with the band — and a real warm, imperfect, human element. By working this way, the band wanted to focus more on the emotions at the core of the material rather than the technique, all while capturing the buzzy euphoria of the first studio recordings. 

“Habitat,” which features a sample of a Polish song, ambient sounds and vocals is arguably the most groovy, most exploratory and most jam-like song that the band has released from the album to date. Anchored around a strutting groove, a looping guitar figure and a four-on-the-four-like drum pattern, before ending in a cacophony of chiming guitars and feedback, “Habitat” features the band’s Élie Raymond singing lyrics that thematically touch on the idea of settling down and settling in, of the need for security, a desire for mundanity and repetition — while making references to Micheal DeForge’s graphic novel Birds of Maine.

The song came about spontaneously at the end of their sophomore album’s writing process, when the band believed that they had completed the album. They worked from a guitar riff that Charles Primeau created with Raymond, Gallois, Lévesque-Roy and Bruneau Faubert improvising around those initial chords, managing to layer parts over one another. “We’ve been playing together for a long time, we always manage to find a symbiosis,” explains Élie Raymond.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Frais Dispo Shares Ethereal and Shimmering “Dire je t’aime au téléphone”

Montréal-based indie rock outfit Frais Dispo — Élie Raymond (guitar, vocals), Antoine Lévesque-Roy (bass), Thomas Bruneau Faubert (trombone, synths), Charles Primeau (guitar) and Antoine Gallois (drums) — is simultaneously a rebrand and a markedly radical direction for its members, who first gained attention across both Quebec and Canada as Foreign Diplomats: Frais Dispo sees the Montréal-based band adopting a much more collaborative songwriting approach than previously. Lyrics are written and sung completely in French.

2023’s Teinte, the newly rebranded band’s full-length debut and last year’s Les teints du ciel n’ont aucun sens found the Montréal-based outfit firmly establishing a markedly new sonic direction with their sound drawing much more from alt-country, folk and indie rock.

Building upon the attention that Teinte and Les tients du ciel n’int aucun sens received in the Francophone world, the Montréal-based outfit’s highly-anticipated sophomore album is slated for a 2026 release through Audiogram. Along with that announcement, the band shared their first single of 2025, “Dire je t’aime au téléphone.”

Anchored around an ethereal and gorgeous arrangement of strummed guitar, shimmering pedal steel, “Dire je t’aime au téléphone” has a dreamy, psych country-meets-Laurel Canyon-inspired vibe. Featuring a stream-of-conscious lyrical approach, the new single features motifs that are dear to the band’s Élie Raymond and frequently appear in their work: having the wind blow through your hair, April skies in Québec, the sense of time flying by before your eyes . . . And much like their previously released work, the new single is rooted in a yearning nostalgia that’s familiar and deeply bittersweet.

The song also sees the band adopting a more laid-back, spontaneous songwriting approach throughout the entire album’s creative process. The album’s tracks were recorded live to make the songs live and breathe — and to create a much more organic sound. As “Dire je t’aime au téléphone” ends, you hear a bit of murmured voices, laughter, and a brief sigh and a phone ringing, which gives the listener a sense of being in the studio with the band — and a real warm, imperfect, human element. By working this way, the band wanted to focus more on the emotions at the core of the material rather than the technique, all while capturing the buzzy euphoria of the first studio recordings.

“Dire je t’aime au téléphone,” much like most of the forthcoming sophomore album’s material can trace its origins back to lengthy jams and jam sessions, which they shortened. “We started playing, and when I felt we had something interesting, I started recording. I played the drums one-handed to start recording on my iPhone, sometimes 10 minutes after I started jamming!” The band’s Antoine Gallois, who also served as the album’s sound engineer explains.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Choses Sauvages Share Icy and Uneasy “Pression”

With the release of their Emmanuel Ethier-produced 2018 self-titled, full-length debut, Montréal-based dance punks Choses Sauvages — Totalement Sublime‘s Marc-Antoine Barbier (guitar), Theirry Malépart (keys), Tony Bélisle (keys), Philippe Gauthier-Boudreau (drums) and La Sécurité‘s Félix Bélisle (vocals) with Foreign Diplomats‘ and Frais Dispo‘s Charles Primeau (bass) as a touring member — exploded into the local and provincial scenes. The album was a critical and commercial success with the album topping Independent Radio Charts across Québec while receiving widespread critical applause. In 2019, the Montréal-based outfit landed Association Québécoise de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video (ADISQ) Félix Award nominations for Alternative Album of the Year and Indie Rock Album of the year, with a Félix Award win for Indie Rock Album of the Year.

Over the course of 2019, the quintet along with touring bassist Charles Primeau supported their full-length debut with a relentless touring schedule across the province. And through this tour, the band quickly developed a reputation for a must-see live show that they’ve since brought across the global festival circuit, including stops at Reeperbahn, MaMA, FIMPRO, SXSW, Le Printemps de Bourges and Wide Days.

2021’s Choses Sauvages II saw the French Canadian outfit boldly pushing their sound more towards electronic dance music and nu-disco influences like L’Imperatice and Lindstrøm while still drawing from their love of funk, Bowie and Bee Gees while balancing a rigorous and meticulous songwriting approach with a rebellious spirit.

The acclaimed Montréal-based outfit’s latest single “Pression” (“pressure” in French) sees them continuing a new trend of pushing their sound into new directions. Sonically, “Pression” features a unique blend of their long-held disco punk sound with glistening and icy techno-like synth oscillations and subtle LCD Soundsystem/New York 00s indie dance punk scene nods. While being rooted in a dance floor friendly groove, the song possesses an underlying tense, unease air that should feel familiar to those prone to overthinking and self-doubt.

“At its core, ‘Pression’ is all about the anxiety and the sense of paranoia that accompanies it whenever you’re looking to prove yourself,” the band explains. “It’s that sense of feeling like you try and try but never quite succeed to hit that nail on the head. Even with how amazing this year has been, from making quite a bit of buzz at SXSW 2023 to embarking on our first-ever large-scale tour in the United States, that anxiety-induced ‘pressure’ still lingers.”

Directed by Philippe Beausejour, the accompanying video for “Pression” employs a distinct style through the application of several different animation techniques — i.e. paper cutouts, computer graphics, hand drawings and rotoscoping — and then processing the final video onto VHS, which creates a dated feel while translating the song’s anxious air into visual unsteadiness.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Frais Dispo Shares Gorgeous “Engraisser”

Featuring members of Montréal-based indie rock outfit Foreign Diplomats — Élie Raymond (guitar, vocals), Antoine Lévesque-Roy (bass), Thomas Bruneau Faubert (trombone, synths), Charles Primeau (guitar) and Antoine Gallois (drums) — Frais Dispo is a radical new direction for the musicians: The project sees the Canadian outfit writing and singing lyrics completely in French. Rooted in a much more collaborative songwriting approach, the band has gone through a decided change in sonic direction, with their new material drawing from alt country, folk and indie rock.

Frais Dispo’s full-length debut, Teinte is slated for an April 14, 2023 release through Audiogram. The album will feature “Julliet,” a song melancholy yet accessible bit of pop rooted in the sort of thoughtful and deliberate craftsmanship that gives the song a sweetly anachronistic air, while subtly bringing Fleetwood Mac to mind. As the band explained in press note notes., the song is a reflection on the languorousness of every day life and the passing of time in a small town. Everything is the same, including the simultaneous longing for a past you can’t get back — and for something, hell anything, to be different. The album will also feature “Chiens habillés,” which was released earlier this year.

The album’s third and latest single “Engraisser” sees the Canadian outfit fully embracing an alt-country take on indie rock, featuring twangy and reverb-drenched guitars, twinkling Rhodes and a chugging and propulsive rhythm section paired with big hooks. While subtly bringing Corridor to mind — at least to my ears — the song as the band explains touches upon night terrors, alcohol consumption that makes you fat and dull and being firmly rooted in the comfort of every day life.

As the band explains “Engraisser” came together quickly and naturally. It was one of the first songs they wrote and recorded as a quartet. With Élie taking up drum duties, the album started to take on its shape and identity.

“Fattening up came together very quickly and naturally. It’s one of the first songs we did as a quartet after our former drummer left. With Élie on drums, that’s when the album started to take on its stronger identity,” explain the band members.

To celebrate the album’s release, the band will be playing at Québec’s Santa Teresa Festival on May 14, and Petit Campus in Montréal on May 18.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Frais Dispo (formerly Foreign Diplomats) Share Gorgeous and Melancholy “Juillet”

Featuring the members of Montreal-based indie rock outfit Foreign Diplomats — Élie Raymond (guitar, vocals), Antoine Lévesque-Roy (bass), Thomas Bruneau Faubert (trombone, synths), Charles Primeau (guitar) and Antoine Gallois (drums) — Frais Dispo is simultaneously a sort of side project for the members of Foreign Diplomats and a new direction for the band. The project’s self-titled marks the members first album with lyrics written and sung entirely in French.

Deriving, its title from the French name for the month of July, “Juillet,” the first single off the new project’s first album is a melancholy yet accessible bit of pop rooted in the sort of thoughtful and deliberate craftsmanship that gives the song a sweetly anachronistic air. Centered around a gorgeous arrangement of strummed acoustic guitar, jangling and reverb-soaked electric guitar, atmospheric synths, a supple bass line, propulsive rhythm section paired with big razor sharp hooks and Raymond’s achingly plaintive and wistful vocals, “Juillet” manages to subtly recall Fleetwood Mac and others. The band explains that the song is a reflection on the languorousness of every day life and the passing of time in a small town. Everything is the same, including the simultaneous longing for the past — and for something different.

Directed by Léonard Giovenazzo, the accompanying video for “Juillet” begins around the fall as we see two buddies stealing apples from an apple orchard with their dog. We quickly fast-forward to a very Canadian winter with our two friends hitching a ride on the back of a pickup truck. Throughout the video, we see gorgeously shot scenes of rural, Canadian life, including man riding his horse and taking it back to the stable, another man ice fishing and so on, before we see the band in Western-styled garb performing on a cold night in a barn. The seasons pass and people do what they do to get by — and it’s all pretty much the same.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montreal’s Choses Sauvages Takes You on a Late Night “The Matrix”-like tour

With the release of their Emmanuel Ethier-produced 2018 self-titled, full-length debut, the Montreal dance punk outfit Choses Sauvages — Totalement Sublime‘s Marc-Antoine Barbier (guitar), Theirry Malépart (keys), Tony Bélisle (keys), Philippe Gauthier-Boudreau (drums) and Félix Bélisle (vocals, bass) — quickly exploded both locally and across Québec: the album was released to widespread critical applause across the province. Their self-titled album received a Félix Award nomination Alternative Album of the Year at the 2019 Association Québécoise de l’industrie du disque, du spectacle et de la video (ADISQ) and a Félix Award for the Indie Rock Album of the Year. The album also topped the Independent Radio Charts across the province.

The band, along with their friend Foreign Diplomats‘ Charles Primeau (bass), who joins the band live, supported their self-titled debut during 2019 with a relentless tour schedule seemingly playing every joint and every festival stage across the province, developing a reputation for an explosive live show. Adding to a growing profile, the rising Montreal outfit went on tour with acclaimed act Half Moon Run.

Choses Sauvages’ highly-anticipated sophomore album, Choses Sauvages II is slated for an October 15, 2021 release through Audiogram. Sonically, the album finds the rising French Canadian outfit boldly pushing their sound towards more electronic and nu-disco influences, like L’Imperatice and Lindstrøm while still drawing from their love of funk, Bowie and Bee Gees. Interestingly, as a result, the album’s material finds the members of Choses Sauvages balancing a rigorous and meticulous songwriting approach with a long-held rebellious spirit.

Choses Sauvages II‘s third and latest single “Chambre d’écho” is a slinky Duran Duran meets Talking Heads banger centered around squiggling Nile Rodgers-like guitar, handclaps, a sinuous bass line, glistening synths, propulsive four-on-the-floor and an enormous, arena rock friendly hook. It’s the sort of song that will make you long for strobe-lit dance floors and sweaty clubs dancing the night — and your concerns — away.

Directed by Léa Dumoulin, the recently released video is heavily indebted to 1999’s The Matrix: we see the members of the band sending mysterious light-based signals to the video’s protagonist, as everyone travels to abandoned buildings and clandestine, late night, sweaty raves.