Kliffs: Sadness
The Berlin-based Canadian duo impresses on a cut featuring gently mellow vocals and romantic lyrics.
By Kerry Doole
Kliffs - Sadness (Independent): Kliffs is a Berlin-based Canadian duo comprising Mark Bérubé (guitar, keys, voice) and Kristina Koropecki (cello, synths, voice) that has just released a debut album, Temporary Cures.
The Kliffs sound is self-described as "recycled tone poems for the perpetually bemused, and pop songs for shy dancers." Sadness, the second single from the album, is a pleasing tune built around Bérubé's gently mellow vocals, while the synth touches are used sparingly. Despite the title, there's a romantic feel here - sample lyrics: "I move my body like a bamboo in the breeze, the night slips away the birds come out to sing."
In a press release, Bérubé describes the making of the record as a “trans-Atlantic baby. The first songs were written in a cabin in the Rockies in Western Canada at the Banff Centre for the Arts back in 2013, then recorded in Montreal in 2017, then more were written in our small studio or in various Berlin kitchens, and recorded at Vox Ton Studios in Berlin in 2018. It has a bit of all that geography in it: acoustic colours from the vastness of Canada to the synthetic tones of electro Berlin."
As a solo artist, Berube has released such albums as What the Boat Gave the River (2008) and Russian Dolls (2013).
Kliffs closes out a national tour tonight (Dec. 16) at Vancouver's Biltmore Cabaret.
Links
Publicity: Susan O'Grady, Take Aim Media
Rogers Stadium during a rainy walkthrough in 2025.Courtesy Photo