Thus Owls - A Shade of Green
The acclaimed Montreal combo launches its new DIY imprint with a new track that showcases the pure and haunting voice of Erika Angell. It is gently mesmerising.
By Kerry Doole
Thus Owls “A Shade of Green” ( For The Living And The Dead): The adventurous and much-lauded Montreal band Thus Owls is built around Swedish-Canadian couple Erika and Simon Angell. The group is back in the spotlight with this new single, the first released by their independent label and creative home; For The Living And The Dead. Thus Owls will continue to present and publish their art in the future under this banner.
In a press release, singer Erika Angell explains that "when we first wrote 'A Shade Of Green,' I thought the song was about the dormant love for someone else, but I recently learnt that it is as much about the yet undiscovered and uncovered love for your own being. There is so much emotional pain to heal in adult life, and step by step we try to face our fears to resolve the knots we carry deep inside. To create is a healing process, and sometimes the subconscious speaks to us and appears in our art long before our conscious self is aware of it. It is a beautiful and powerful thing.”
The track was recorded in one take at Hotel2Tango in Montreal last year when the final heatwave of the summer hit the city. The only added element to this take is the siren sounding trumpets that were captured in the dead of dark winter in Erika's childhood home in Sweden. A slow and moody opening passage featuring trumpet gradually introduces piano, then Angell's pure and haunting vocals.
This is not a tune you'll hear on mainstream commercial radio, but this is gently mesmerising. Guests on the track include backing vocalists Laurel Sprengelmeyer, Michael Feuerstack, and Nocolas Basque, and trumpeter Emil Strandberg.
Thus Owls perform in Montreal on June 16 at La Vitrola, part of the Suoni Per Il Popolo fest.
Links:
Publicity - Kim Juneja - kim@takeaimmedia.com
Stephen Macklam (left) and Sam Feldman.Courtesy Photos