Tag: Montreal QC

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: PRIORS Shares Riotously Upbeat “Daffodil”

Led by singer/songwriter, creative mastermind, and producer, Chance Hutchinson, Montréal-based punk outfit PRIORS have been wildly prolific, dropping six releases, including three full-length albums since 2017. Each of those efforts have seen the Canadian punk outfit firmly cementing a melodic and dynamic punk sound. During that same period, PRIORS have developed a reputation for a wildly energetic live set that they’ve toured across Canada, the States and Europe, while sharing stages with The Mummies, Oblivians, Quintron, and Simply Saucer.

Adding to a growing profile across the indie and punk scene, the members of PRIORS have made the rounds of the international festival circuit with stops at Goner Fest and M for Montréal. (Their M for Mothland showcase set at last year’s M for Montréal was a personal highlight of a week-long trip of highlights.)

The Canadian outfit’s Max Deshernais co-produced Daffodil is slated for a June 2, 2023 release through Mothland. Serving as the band’s seventh release and fourth album overall, the album which features Sonic Avenues‘ Sebastien Godin (guitar), The Famines‘ Andrew Demers (drums) and Tabarnak’s Alan Hildebrandt (bass) is reportedly one of their most hopeful and uplifting efforts to date. Sonically, incisive rhythms serve as the basis for clever arrangements centered around fuzzy guitars, propulsive bass lines and analog synths are paired with Hutchinson’s punchily delivered vocals fed through a bit of reverb, and occasional sax blasts from CIVIC’s and The Steve Adamyk Band‘s Dave Forcier.

“I’d say Daffodil is a pop-heavy punk record with a lot of positive outlooks. I have spent the last six releases kicking the shit out of myself and it was time for a new vibe. A little sprinkle of positivity amongst the angst,” PRIORS’ Chance Hutchinson explains in press notes.

Daffodil‘s latest single, album title track “Daffodil” is built around a chugging and insistent buzzing electric guitar, strummed acoustic guitar, and blasts of wobbling Farfisa paired with an insistent backbeat and Hutchinson’s distorted and punchily delivered vocal. Although it’s more of a bounce and shout-along with the band sort of song, “Daffodil” manages to retain a feral yet joyous mosh pit friendly energy that’s infectious.

“’Daffodil’ is one of those songs that happened very quickly,” Hutchinson recalls. “All the parts just kind of wrote themselves including the vocal ideas. In the studio we opened it up a little more with the Vox Jaguar and acoustic guitar and Max added that wild ‘beach sound’ ending with the birds which I really feel pulls it all together.”

Directed by Studio Del Scorpio and featuring additionally photography by Billy Riley, the accompanying video for “Daffodil” captures a behind-the-scenes look at life on the road, including footage of the band playing sweaty, riotous shows across Canada, the incredibly same looking hotel rooms and roads and more.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Russell Louder Shares Slickly Produced “Movie Queen”

Russell Louder is a Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island-born, Montréal-based trans and non-binary )(they/them) singer/songwriter and producer. Louder’s full-length debut, 2021’s Humor was released to critical applause with the album being selected to the Polaris Music Prize long-list. Adding to a growing profile across Canada, album single “Hello Stranger” was on CBC Music’s Top 20 list for four consecutive weeks after the album’s release.

Louder’s highly-anticipated sophomore album is slated for a summer 2023 release. The album will feature previously released singles “Mirror” and “Come Around,” as well as its third and latest single “Movie Queen.” Built around glistening synth arpeggios, tweeter and woofer rattling thump and a sinuous and propulsive bass line paired with Louder’s plaintive pop star delivery and an enormous hook, the slickly produced “Movie Queen”recalls Christine and The Queens and Annie Lennox because its rooted in a similar lived-in lyricism and attention to craft.

Thematically, the song touches upon heartbreak, female film noir archetypes and the pressure of appearances in a way that feels deeply personal — and yet deeply universal.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Grand Public Shares Shimmering and Hazy “Goutte à Goutte”

Montréal-based indie outfit Grand Public features a collection of accomplished local musicians: The band’s frontman and founder Gregory Paquet has played with The Stills, Alvvays‘ Molly Rankin and Peter Peter. The band’s three other members are childhood friends, who have played together in several other local bands including Reviews, an act that has played with JOVM mainstays Corridor, Omni, and others. 

The members of Grand Public took advantage of pandemic enforced downtown to develop and refine their sound, and then write and record their four-song Dominic Vanchesteing-produced debut EP Idéal Tempo. Released last Friday, the EP sees the Montréal-based outfit pairing angular guitar textures, ethereal melodies and hypnotic rhythms with an explosive release of tension.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the EP’s second single “Lundi normal,” which featured reverb-drenched, angular guitar, ethereal vocals and rousingly anthemic hooks paired with a propulsive rhythm section. While sonically bringing Junior-era Corridor to mind, the song is rooted in surrealistic, seemingly stream-of-consciousness lyrics.

The recently released EP’s latest single, “Goutte à goutte” is centered around shimmering and swirling guitar textures, the Montréal-based outfit’s penchant for multi-part harmonies and propulsive rhythms. While still recalling JOVM mainstays Corridor, “Goutte á goutte” also nods at 120 Minutes-era MTV alt rock and 60s psych rock. The band explains that the EP’s producer “put a lot of emphasis on the harmonies, which add a layer of richness to the songs and color the mood of the EP. All of the songs on Ideal tempo were recorded live with the most standard rock instrumentation: two guitars, bass and drums. But we used a 12-string guitar on ‘Goutte à Goutte’ to add a touch of magic, and we really like the result — the sinuous, swirling, hazy feel that come through.

“Our director put a lot of emphasis on the harmonies, which add a layer of richness to the songs and color the mood of the EP,” explains the band. Along with the release, the band shares the music video for the album’s lead song, Goutte à goutte. “All of the songs on Ideal tempo were recorded live with the most standard rock instrumentation: two guitars, bass and drums,” the band adds. “But we used a 12-string guitar on Goutte à Goutte to add a touch of magic, and we really like the result – the sinuous, swirling, hazy feel that comes through.”

Directed by Joe Pelletier, the accompanying video for “Goutte à Goutte” is split between footage of the band playing the song in a studio, shot through fisheye lenses, and an illustrated black hole traveling through the universe, paired with lyric cards. The video emphasizes the song’s hazy feel.

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.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Le Couleur Shares Sultry “Sentiments nouveaux”

Montreal-based trio Le Couleur — Laurence Giroux-Do (vocals). Patrick Gosselin (bass) and Steven Chouinard (drums) – – quick rose to prominence with a glittery electro pop sound seemingly influenced by Studio 54 with their earliest releases — 2013’s Voyage Love EP, 2015’s Dolce Désir and their critically applauded full-length debut, 2016’s P.O.P.

After sharing a stage with Giorgio Moroder, Moroder gave them some pertinent advice, which informed a decided change of approach as heard on the trio’s sophomore album, 2020’s Concorde, an album informed by vintage influences including 70s eroticism, psychedelia, disco, yéyé and French chanson among others.

The rising Canadian trio’s latest single “Sentiments nouveaux” is a sleek, slickly produced, languorous bop built around dense layers of glistening and wobbling synth arpeggios, skittering tweeter and woofer rattling thump paired with sultrily delivered vocals in French and English, a buzzing Tame Impala-like guitar solo, and the trio’s unerring knack for razor sharp hooks. Sonically, “Sentiments nouveaux” may arguably be the most 80s synth pop inspired song of their growing catalog, bringing Nu Shooz and others to mind.

“Sentiments nouveaux” is the first taste of a forthcoming album, slated for a fall release. Be on the lookout y’all.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Grand Public Shares Shimmering “Lundi normal”

Montréal-based indie outfit Grand Public features a collection of accomplished local players: The band’s frontman and founder Gregory Paquet has played with The Stills, Alvvays‘ Molly Rankin and Peter Peter. The band’s other members, are three childhood friends, who have played together in several bands, including Reviews, an act that has played with JOVM mainstays Corridor, Omni, and others.

Grand Public took advantage of pandemic enforced downtime to refine their sound and write material, including their four-song Dominic Vanchesteing-produced mini album Idéal Tempo. Slated for a March 24, 2023 release, Idéal Tempo reportedly sees the Montréal-based outfit pairing angular guitar textures, ethereal melodies and hypnotic rhythms with explosive release of tension.

The mini EP’s second and latest single “Lundi normal” features reverb-drenched, angular guitar attack, ethereal vocals and rousingly anthemic hooks paired with a propulsive rhythm section. “Lundi normal” sonically recalls Junior-era Corridor but rooted in surrealistic, seemingly stream-of-consciousness lyrics.

Shot in Nouveau Système Beaubien, a famous, old-fashioned Montréal-based greasy spoon, the accompanying video captures the band’s members hanging out and bullshitting on a regular and seemingly cold Monday.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Bodywash Shares Woozy and Uneasy “Massif Central”

Montréal-based shoegazers Bodywash — Chris Steward and Rosie Long Dector — can trace their origins back to when the pair met while attending McGill University. But when they met, the pair didn’t immediately share a common musical language: Steward grew up in London listening to celestial dream pop while Dector grew up in Toronto listening to folk and Canadiana. The music they began writing together saw the pair bridging their influences. And with the release of 2016’s self-titled EP and 2019’s full-length debut, Comforter, the Montréal-based duo firmly established their sound — slow-burning and dreamy material centered around ethereal vocals, intricate guitar lines and pulsating synths. 

The Canadian shoegazers’ sophomore album I Held the Shape While I Could is slated for an April 14, 2023 release through Light Organ Records. . When touring to support Comforter was cut short by the pandemic, the duo used the unexpected hiatus to write new material, which was darker, more experimental and more invigorating than its predecessor, and managed to reflect on Steward’s and Long Dector’s separate and shared experiences of losing a sense of place, the way something once solid can slip between your fingers, and their attempts to build something new from the psychological and emotional fallout.

Late last year, I wrote about the sophomore album’s expansive first single, “Kind of Light.” Beginning with a slow-burning and elegiac intro featuring glistening organ and a skittering yet propulsive kick pattern that slow builds up and breaks into a high energy boom bap-like breakbeat paired with scorching guitar squealing and wobbling bass synths. Long Decter’s ethereal and achingly plaintive vocals expressing profound, heart-wrenching despair — and hope. The song suggests that while loss is natural and sadly expected there can be hope; that there are only a handful of things in our lives that are truly permanent. And that ultimately for the most part, it can get better.

“I wrote ‘Kind of Light’ in bed,” Long Decter says. ““It was the fall of 2018 and Chris and I were both going through experiences of learning not to trust what feels like home. He sent me a plugin for a new organ sound, suggesting it might provide inspiration. I sent him back chords, a kick pattern, and some vocals about trying to pull your legs back; trying to take your energy out of the wreckage and put it into yourself. The process of deciding what’s worth keeping, what can be reworked and what gets tossed in the fire. A process that is devastating and also weirdly invigorating, because you can see new possibilities opening up in front of you. And you can start to look for light somewhere else.”

I Held the Shape While I Could‘s second single, the woozy “Massif Central” features glistening synth bursts, shimmering and angular post punk-meets-shoegaeze-like textures paired with a relentless motorik groove, stormy guitar feedback and Steward’s ethereal whispers recounting an experience of Kafka-esque, bureaucratic purgatory: a typo in a government letter caused Steward to lose his legal work status in Canada. The song manages to evoke the sensation of having your life flipped upside down, then being hopelessly stuck and having no say or agency in your situation.

“After eight years living in Canada, in the Spring of 2021, a government clerical error caused me to lose my legal status here,” Steward explains. “As a UK national, I lost my right to work. My savings trickled away during months where I could do little but pace the corners of my apartment. I was prepared to pack my bags and leave as the life I’d hoped to construct for myself seemed to vanish into a bureaucratic abyss.”
 
“‘Massif’ is the sound of wailing into a cliff and not knowing if you’ll hear an echo,” continued Steward. “The spoken word is inspired by a squirrel that was trapped in the wall behind my bed, clawing its way to salvation. With the help of friends, family, music, and a few immigration lawyers (and the rest of my savings), I’m now a permanent resident here. But this song remains as testament to my experience with an exploitative institution.”

Directed by Jordan Allen, the accompanying video for “Massif Central” is a dizzying collage of live footage, directed by Brandon Kaufman, distorted VHS-like visuals and eerie. retro-futuristic -inspired graphics. “With ‘Massif Central,’ we wanted to encapsulate the panic and urgency that Chris experienced, and have the abstracts portray the anxiety and hopelessness one can feel at the hands of bureaucracy,” Allen explains. “I chose graphics that heavily leaned into feelings of being lost in a maze, with towering structures and horizon lines pulling you into them. The idea was that the camera would be both a CCTV view of the band, but also glitching to reveal the more emotionally internal visual aspects.”

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: SUUNS Share Sludgy and Shoegazy “Wave”

Montréal-based experimental rock outfit SUUNS— founding members Ben Shemie (vocals, guitar) and Joe Yarmush (guitar, bass) with Liam O’Neill (drums) — can trace their origins back to 2007: Shemie and Yarmush got together to make some beats, and it quickly evolved to a few songs. The duo was joined by O’Neill and Max Henry (keys) to complete the band’s first lineup. The band signed to Secretly Canadian in 2010. That year, Henry left the band as a full-time official member to pursue a scholarly career — although he continues to record with the band.

In 2020, the trio signed to Joyful Noise Recordings, who released that year’s Fiction EP and 2021’s The Witness.

Engineered by Adrian Popovich and recorded at Mountain City Recording Studio last July, the band’s latest single “Wave” evolved over an 18 month period of touring to support The Witness. “While touring The Witness, between plane rides, car rides, van rides, and text threads, we started working on new music,” SUUNS’ Ben Shemie explains. “New sounds and a new approach seemed to take shape while testing new material. What started to emerge were really slow songs, some strange experimentations, and some unclassifiable jams. Among these tunes, ‘Wave’ emerged.”

The slow-burning dirge-like “Wave” is rooted in relentless repetition, swirling and sludgy guitar textures, droning feedback and distortion, blown-out boom bap paired with Shemie’s plaintive delivery buried a smidge under the syrupy mix. Sonically “Wave” makes a nod at fellow Montrealers The Besnard Lakes before ending with a noisy, slow-burning fade out.

The accompanying video by Ilyse Krivel consists of time lapse footage of the sun setting over a body of water, superimposed by footage of rippling waves at the shore.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Montréal’s Super Plage Shares Breezy Yet Melancholy “NYE”

Jules Henry is a Montréal-based singer/songwriter and electronic music producer, best known as Super Plage. As Super Plage, Henry specializes in a seductive sound with hints of nu-disco. Over the past couple of years, the Canadian artist has rather prolific. Over the past couple of years, Henry has released:

Henry’s fourth Super Plage album Midnight Magic is slated for a March release. The album’s fourth and latest single, “NYE” is a breezy yet melancholy bit of pop featuring glistening synth arpeggios, skittering beats paired with Henry’s achingly plaintive vocal and an enormous hook. Although “NYE” sonically nods at Daft Punk, Phoenix, and Air, the song evokes the hope and despair of another year.

Directed by Virginie Bedard, the accompanying video for “NYE” follows a young woman at a party — presumably a costumed New Year’s Eve bash. While everyone else is enjoying themselves, we see this young woman seem awkward, and fearful of what may happen next. For her the New Year, may not be as hopeful occasion as it is was for others.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Naomi Teams up with Mike Clay on a New Version of Swaggering “Okay Alright”

Naomi is a rising Montréal-based multi-disciplinary artist, who after studying theater, first made a name for herself when she began to land roles on both the small and big screen by the time she turned 14. She then went on to study dance at École de danse contemporaine de Montréal. 

As a dancer, Naomi has appeared in and/or choreographed music videos for Rihanna, Marie-Mai, Cœur de Pirate and others, as well as for local dance performances. While she was establishing herself as an actor and dancer, the Montreal-based artist quietly developed a passion for singing — without fully giving herself permission to explore it fully. Cœur de Pirate, a.k.a. Beátrice Martin saw potential and took Naomi under her wing.

Encouraged by Martin’s mentorship, the rising Canadian artist began to realize that she was never far off from making her own music. All she needed was a bit of a push.

She signed with Martin’s Bravo Musique, the label home of JOVM mainstay Thaïs, Cœur de Pirate, Chocolat and lengthy list of local Francophone acts, and began writing her own original material. Since then, the rising Montréal-based artist has taken a bold leap into a career as a singer/songwriter and pop artist. Her first two singles “Tout à nous” and “Zéro stress” received airplay on WKND, Rouge FM, Arsenal, POP, CVKMand several other regional radio stations across Quebec.

Naomi went on to release three more singles, which I managed to write about on this site:

  • The club friendly, Rowan Mercille and Naomi co-written “Semblant,” which I wrote about earlier this year. Centered around glistening synth arpeggios, skittering trap-meets-Carribbean beats paired with her sultry delivery and an infectious hook, “Semblant” is a remarkably self-assured summertime banger, that also reveals a bonafide superstar in the making. 

  • “Pas le temps de jouer,” a slickly produced and self-assured banger centered around shuffling reggaeton-meets-trap beats, glistening synth bursts paired with the rising Canadian artist’s sultry delivery and her seemingly unerring knack for crafting a big, razor sharp hook. Much like its immediate predecessor, “Pas le temps de jouer” is an accessible, summertime bop that will help launch a bonafide superstar into the stratosphere. 

  • “Okay Alright,” a sultry bop that continued a remarkable run of slickly produced, genre-defying, accessible pop bangers. But with an English language hook, the song seems to show an artist reading for an audience outside of the Francophone world –but while retaining the elements of her sound and approach that have won her fans at home and abroad.

The Canadian JOVM mainstay starts off the year with a new version of “Okay Alright” that features a guest spot from Mike Clay, the frontman of Clay and Friends. Retaining the slick production and fun air of the original, the new version adds a bit more swagger and fun to the proceedings, and a reminder that Naomi is a star in the making.

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

New Audio: Reno McCarthy Shares Wintry “Picture in Picture”

With the release of his full-length debut, 2019’s Counterglow, Montréal-based singer/songwriter, producer, and JOVM mainstay, Reno McCarthy quickly received attention for his remarkably self-assured songwriting.

Following the death of his father in 2020, McCarthy wrote Angels Watching Us Dance EP, an effort which saw the Canadian artist crafting stopped down, strikingly sensitive material informed by loss and heartbreak.

McCarthy’s sophomore album, 2021’s Run Up River featured three singles I wrote about on this site:

  • The introspective yet upbeat “Sundown,”

  • The slickly produced, St. Lucia-like ode to hesitation and indecisiveness, “For A Moment.”

  • “Nothing Less, Nothing More” is a slow-burning song that manages to evoke the uneasy swoon of a new relationship with both sides entering uncharted waters with themselves and each other. 

The Montréal-based JOVM mainstay began the year with the recently released Picture in Picture EP, which features title track “Picture in Picture.” Featuring strummed acoustic guitar, gently padded yet skittering drum beats, a sinuous bass line paired with fluttering and atmospheric synths paired with McCarthy’s plaintive crooning and his unerring knack for big, razor sharp hooks, “Picture in Picture” sees the Canadian artist balancing folk intimacy with pop bombast. Thematically, the song touches upon the existential threat of environment damage and the alienation of modern life, while evoking cold Montréal nights.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Montréal’s Atsuko Chiba Shares Brooding and Hypnotic “Shook (I’m Often)”

With the release of a couple of EPs and two albums, Montréal-based psych outfit Atusko Chiba — Karim Lakhdar (guitar, vocals, synthesizer), Kevin McDonald (guitar, synthesizer), David Palumbo (bass guitar, vocals), Anthony Piazza (drums) and Erik Schafhauser (guitar, synthesizer) — have developed a reputation for crafting a cohesive and hypnotic blend of post-rock, prog rock and krautrock paired with offbeat, subversive songwriting. 

For their live shows, the Canadian psych outfit pair their unique brand of experimental rock with video and light installations trigged in real time by the band, creating an immersive multimedia, multi-sensorial environment. Over the past few years, the band has toured across Canada, the States and Europe, sharing stages with  . . . And You Will Know Us By The Trail of Dead, Big Business, Duchess Says, King Buffalo, and others. 

The band’s highly-anticipated third album, Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing officially dropped today. Recorded at Room 11, the band’s studio, alongside their sixth member, engineer Matthew Cerantola, the album stems from months of experimentation, as well as conceptual dichotomies informed by some rather strange times, and sees the band crafting an album’s worth of genre-defying, drone driven material that may draw comparisons to the likes of The Mars Volta, Beak>and Spirit of the Beehive among others. 

“As opposed to our last album, which was about introspection, spacetime and the personal journey, the themes explored on this new album are related to our environment and our reaction to it,” the members of Atsuko Chiba explain. “Though not meant to be strictly political, our references stem from highly politicized movements and ideas. Division and group ideology are heavily explored. A prime example is the weaponization of vocabulary used to distract, displace and alienate us, forcing us to pick sides on every front. Our lyrics also strongly denote our innate love for all living things, encompassing a hopeful, if somewhat violent, plea for change.

We were also influenced by musical genres that tend to be more repetitive such as electronic or drone music. We discussed topics such as drones, ragas, hypnotic rhythms, minimalism, spatial awareness, musicality through overall patience, trying a less-is-more approach, etcetera. This led to us five playing as an ensemble rather than as musicians with defined roles; we were all responsible for pushing forward the main idea.”

In the lead-up to the album’s release, I’ve written about two of the album’s previously released singles:

  • The expansive, slow-burning A Storm in Heaven-meets-Dark Side of the Moon-like “Seeds.” Clocking in at 7:45, the track is centered around lush, glistening synths, swirling guitar riffs, tweeter and woofer rattling boom bap-like drumming paired with heavily distorted vocal harmonies. The single also features a gorgeous contribution from Montreal-based string quartet Quatuor Esca, who perform an arrangement by Gabriel Desjardins. While possessing a sprawling, widescreen atmosphere, “Seeds” evokes a creeping sense of impending uncertainty and doom but with the tacit understanding that perhaps not all is lost — at least not yet. 

  • “Link,” a track rooted in a chugging and aggressive rhythm section, scorching and blaring alarm-like synths, buzzing poly harmonic guitar lines paired with booming vocals. While sounding a bit like it could have been recorded during the Trace sessions, “Link” is an urgent, mosh pit friendly ripper — with a widescreen, cinematic quality. “’Link’ is about judgement; how we often tend to judge and belittle others to prop up our own self worth,” the members of Atsuko Chiba explain. “It’s about the lengths we go through to destroy others, while not taking the time to look inside.“

Water, It Feels Like It’s Growing‘s third and latest single “Shook (I’m Often)” may arguably be the most raga-like of the album’s released singles: Featuring layers of droning guitars, a relentless motorik groove paired with Lakdar’s plaintive crooning, the album’s latest single is a sprawling soundscape that’s simultaneously brooding and trippy. But underneath the trippy vibes is a song that evokes an uneasy stasis.

The accompanying video features fittingly hallucinogenic imagery animated by the band’s Anthony Piazza.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New Video: Vanille Shares Shimmering and Ethereal “M’as tu vu passer?”

Rising Montréal-based singer/songwriter Rachel Leblanc, best known to the outside world as Vanille, specializes in a sound that exists somewhere between ’60s folk and French chanson and brings the listener into a dreamlike world of dense forests and swooning heartbreak.

Leblanc’s sophomore Vanille album, the Alex Martel and Leblanc co-produced La clairière is slated for a February 3, 2023 release through Bonbonbon Records in Canada and Boogie Drugstore in Europe. Recorded at Wild Studio and Le Pantoum, La Clairére sees Leblanc retaining elements of the dream pop sound and approach that won her attention — but while leaning heavily into 60s English baroque folk.

Last summer, I wrote about “À bientôt,” a swooning and expansive bit of psych folk-meets-psych rock featuring a lush arrangement of strummed reverb-drenched guitars, gently padded drumming paired with Leblanc’s achingly tender falsetto. And at its core, is tale as old as time itself: a heartbroken narrator, in the aftermath of the devastation of a newly-ended relationship i left with their memories — and the bitter taste of their heartbreak.

La clairère‘s latest single “M’as tu vu passer?” continues a run of gorgeous, baroque folk-inspired material featuring strummed guitar, atmospheric synths, gently padded drumming and percussion paired with Leblanc’s plaintive and ethereal cooing. “M’as tu va passer?” is simultaneously a song about heartbreak and depression, and of dark and cold Montréal winters without anywhere to really go or anything to really do.

Directed by Rachel Leblanc and Irina Tempea, the accompanying visual for “M’as tu va passer?” is shot on Super 8 film to give it all a hazily nostalgic, old-timey air. The video references winter in several different instances: Leblanc laying down on a furry blanket with fake snow falling on her, Leblanc holding a snow globe and edited footage of a couple fighter skating.

Video by William Ruben Helms

New VIdeo: La Bronze Shares Sultry and Atmospheric “Viens”

Nadia Essadiqi is a Montreal-based, Moroccan-Canadian singer/songwriter, musician and actor. An as actor Essadiqi has appeared in the French language, Canadian series Trauma, season 3 of ICI Radio-Canada Télé’s Unité 9, the TOU.TV webs series Quart de vie, the short film Forêt Noire and the sci-fi project, Projet-M,

Essadiqi is best known as the acclaimed pop artist La Bronze. 2014’s self-titled, full-length debut received an Emerging Artist of the Year Award nomination at the 2015 Canadian Music Week Awards. Although she may be best known for singing lyrics in French, in 2016, he released a Maghrebi Arabic rendition of Stromae’s hit “Formidable,” which garnered quite of buzz across Canada and elsewhere. She followed that up in 2017 with the release of her sophomore album, Les corps infinis.

The Montreal-based artist’s third album Vis-moi was released by Montreal-based label Audiogram last March. The album’s latest single “Viens” is a slow-burning and atmospheric pop ballad centered around skittering beats and glistening synth stabs paired with Essadiqi’s ethereal cooing, a soaring choral-driven hook and a woozy bridge. The song thematically focuses on something many of us have experienced at some point — the attraction towards someone or something that isn’t necessarily right for us. And as a result, the song evokes an uneasy and irresistible push and pull, full of carnal longing.

Directed by Eli Jean Tahchi, the accompanying video for “Viens” was shot during a recent trip to the small town of Salé, Morocco. The video begins with the Moroccan-Canadian artist laying down near an open window, presumably attempting to stay cool on a blistering hot morning. We later see the Montreal-based artist in a white gown, running through the town and towards a cemetery. Eventually we see La Bronze at a cliff with the waves crashing below, followed by seeing her dance at the seashore with the sun setting. While surreal, the video also manages to capture the push, pull and collision within the song.