Closed City, Holy Fuck, Arielle Soucy, and Bossanova Frankenstein
Closed City - Self-Titled
Daunting compositions and doom fuelled dystopian imagery permeate your senses as you listen to the debut album from Closed City; the project from songwriter Mathias Kom (The Burning Hell) and composer Michael Cloud Duguay (Scions, Quinton Barnes’ Black Noise). The two bunkered up in a log cabin on a remote island during a Finnish winter to create this contemplative effort that explores world-building and themes of (dis)connection and isolation, ideas that were inspired by Soviet era closed cities. Highly thematic and emotive, this is a must listen!
Holy Fuck - Event Beat
On their sixth album, the iconic band consisting of Brian Borcherdt, Matt 'Punchy' McQuaid, Matt Schulz, and Graham Walsh make their most organic sounding album to date. By keeping the recording as live as possible and emphasizing improvisation and raw percussion, Holy Fuck sound more rock forward. You’ll still find tracks that make you want to boogie but as a whole, Event Beat leans heavily into art-rock territory which makes it a better album for cruising rather than dancing and thus, more suited for your truly.
Arielle Soucy - Passages
Montreal’s Arielle Soucy has given us one of the most underrated folk albums of the year. It’s desolate and unassuming upon a quick listen but put on headphones and actually sit down with Passages and prepare for heart-wrenching sentiments from start to finish that are beautifully sung in both French and English. My favourite tracks boast beautiful compositions of baroque-folk meeting avant-folk in a swirl of harmonies and droney organ notes.
Bossanova Frankenstein - Heavy Relic
Bossanova Frankenstein is the solo project of Evan Henderson and was created during a low point in his life while he worked his way out of darkness into light. It’s a fun record that runs the rock and roll gamut. Shifting from genre to genre, Heavy Relic never stagnates or sours. As Bossanova Frankenstein, Henderson explores blues, post-punk, psych, folk, and dance under an indie rock umbrella with the sneer and swagger of Nick Cave in one of his greasy-rocker eras.
