So wow, it's been a long haul, but we have finally agreed on a release date for FOG AREA and it will be in the last week of August. We will be playing some shows in Montréal before then and will hopefully hit the road for some short jaunts after the release.
Not that we have to apologize for anything, but I figured I should maybe explain the nature of our upcoming album to those who care about such things.
It may seem like a departure from "Buffalo of Love". The production, the tempo, and the style of the songs are all quite different. Of course, to us, who've been obsessing about every little detail of this album for (probably) way too long, it sounds like a natural progression. It sounds like where we're at inside our own heads, it sounds like a much more honest and complete and expansive cycle of songs.
There is much more variety here, and much less reliance on dance-punk drumbeats. It is at once more electro, with different kinds of keyboards and arpeggiators all over the 12 songs, and more organic, with a good dose of acoustic guitars and pianos and vocal harmonies. There are 6 minutes songs and there are 2 minute songs. It is much more risky.
But to some who've heard previews, the reaction has been "Whoa. This sounds like a completely different band."
You know, personally, this makes me happy, as I was all too aware of the shortcomings of "Buffalo of Love." That album was a label re-tread of our first independent recording, "Winter Asthmatics", recorded in 3 days in 2005. To me, "Buffalo" feels somewhat contrived, now.
So in a way, Fog Area is going back to the era of "Asthmatics." It's chillier, in the production sense. It is a sadder, more melancholy album. But I would swear that it's warmer, emotionally - there is a real depth of feeling there, and it mirrors the trajectory the band has been on - whereas "Buffalo" was often just an exercise in style.
Of course, we realize that many people enjoyed that exercise in style. And it's possible they may be alienated by "Fog Area." But we could not have done anything other than what we did. By that I mean, we felt what we felt, and we have been completely honest in the composition and recording of "Fog Area" - and instead of masking the progression, or trying to make it fall more in line with the previous album, we simply just let it all out.
The aforementioned band trajectory involved losing a member and surviving a difficult label relationship. It involved moving back to our hometown of Montréal and leaving Toronto, where we first started playing. We considered breaking up. We considered changing our name. But out of stubbornness, and a conviction that we haven't peaked creatively yet, we decided to keep it together.
It may take longer to get into this album. It may be more of a creeper. But whatever the case, we consider it a more accomplished album. "Buffalo" was the sound of 5 naïve youths banging out riffs and playing with an unpolished urgency. "Fog Area" is the sound of mature musicians, feeling a little bruised and battered, exercising restraint subtlety and widening their sonic palette.
To wrap up, I'll just mention that, aside from the 12 songs on FOG AREA, we have enough material for another EP. Not outtakes, but great songs that didn't seem to fit on FOG AREA for one reason or another . We've been calling these songs the "PINK DOG" EP, and we roughly project to get it out in early 2010.
Love,
Alex
KTL