HALF MOON RUN Montreal band reflect on inspiration, pressure and mojo SAVANNAH LEIGH WELLMAN Half Moon Run seem to have “it” – call it destiny, luck, or perhaps mojo (the term used by Plants and Animals to describe their soon-to-be tourmates). But with just their first album they accomplished the kind of career landmarks that most indie bands can only dream of. The group’s very formation could be seen as an act of fate, when Connor Molander and Dylan Phillips found singer Devon Portielje via a Craigslist add looking for musicians. From there, their debut album Dark Eyes went gold in Canada, and the band found themselves playing international stages with the likes of Mumford & Sons. But they’re careful not to subscribe to any ideas of grandeur, and even get a little uncomfortable at the idea. “I feel extremely lucky, but when the time comes where you’re reflecting on those things, it’s a dangerous mental territory to get into. Pride comes before the fall – I’m weary of thinking about how great anything is going,” Molander shares from his home in Montreal. After any successful first album, there is always the looming question – will they be able to follow it up? Expectations from fans and critics can put a lot of pressure on the creative process, but the group decided to turn inwards and use it to their advantage. “Internally is where the most meaningful pressure came from – all we can do is try to do our best, and you can’t bother with what anybody else is going to think about it. And I think that internal pressure is a good thing, it keeps you from getting complacent – even to the extent of conjuring it up when I don’t feel it, because it’s such a great motivator.” Even with that kind of drive, when it came time to focus on writing their follow up album, the foursome (now joined by Isaac Symonds) found themselves at a bit of a creative stalemate being at home. “We had all this free time in Montreal to write the new record, and we needed to light a fire under our own asses, so we basically just got in the van and tried to make an adventure out of it. We needed a spark, and it worked wonderfully - that’s when we really hit our stride.” The final Half Moon Run harvested the warmth of California to power their new record, Sun Leads Me On. destination was California, where the band was able to mix work and leisure in a setting that inspired much of the music on the album. Even the title, Sun Leads Me On, is a nod to that journey, chasing the sunset as they drove west. The sunshine seemed to have an effect on the tone of the album too – there are more moments of optimism and pleasure than on the mostly melancholic Dark Eyes. You can almost hear echos of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds era in singer Portielje’s falsetto, or in the opening track “Warmest Regards,” a pleasant reflection featuring acoustic guitars and flutes. But the band hasn’t strayed from the percussive intensity and vocal harmonies that have become their signature sound – they’ve simply built on it, going deeper into the darker depths, and the delicately optimistic ones as well. Their upcoming Canadian tour takes place in theatres, something Molander is looking forward to. “It allows you more ebb and flow within PLANTS AND ANIMALS turns out slow brewing brings out flavours you never knew were there Photo by Jennifer McCord a set, you can really bring things down to an intimate moment.” The band has some surprises planned for this time out, in Vancouver specifically, to take advantage of the acoustic opportunities theatre venues provide. And as the band continues to build a career that has already taught them a heck of a lot about putting on a good show – you can be sure there will be some magic. Half Moon Run performs at the Orpheum Theatre <strong>December</strong> 16. Back to the basics, Plants and Animals are happy again after letting their creative juices recharge. SAVANNAH LEIGH WELLMAN Plants and Animals emerged from the Montreal scene at the height of its indie band frenzy – the success of bands like Arcade Fire was shining an international spotlight on the culture-rich bilingual city, and at the time you’d be hardpressed to find a hip 20-something that wasn’t in a band. But this three piece was no passing trend – the release of their first full length album Parc Avenue earned them both Polaris and JUNO award nominations in 2008. 2010 saw the release of the raucous La La Land, followed by the slightly mellowed out The End of That in 2012, cumulating in over six years of constant hustle (write, record, tour, repeat). When the cycle wound down, they all agreed it was time to take a breath. “We had a cumulative burnout,” says drummer Matthew “Woody” Woodley. “We needed to slow down to let our creative juices flow. We needed to play with other people, and have the luxury of time for reflection on the songs we were working on. We all had kids in the time we were off, so being able to be more domestic was welcomed, we were all into it.” Giving themselves the freedom to create unhinged by a tight deadline allowed the group to really let creative ideas foster, something they hadn’t been able to do since their first album. “We wrote in the studio, which sometimes seemed backwards, building music off of one little moment or idea, as opposed to going in with a song already finished. Sometimes the best stuff is the most intuitive stuff, and not necessarily the most fleshed out and laboured over.” This kind of improvised approach was even applied to lyrics at times, where singer Warren Spicer would fill in unwritten lines with gibberish or random thoughts, that would sometimes stick and inspire the rest of the words. The result at times feels mystical - lush cinematic landscapes that bring a sense of nostalgia, not in that they sound familiar, but that they bring an unnamed emotion almost out from behind a memory, one you want to feel again but you’re not sure why, or exactly where it came from. It’s a beautiful collection of carefully crafted musical ideas, that still maintains the loose experimental feel the band is known for. While the creative process might have harkened back to their original days as a band, the influences didn’t. “I think for a long time a lot our influences were from the golden era of rock ‘n roll, and we drained whatever was in that well for us. It came up consciously a bunch of times, let’s not make an album that sounds like the ‘70s, let’s make something that sounds contemporary. We started getting inspired by other things, and listening to a lot more contemporary music.” Woodley lists some hip-hop references, and while they may not be directly audible influences in the music itself, it’s the production and the experimentation with sounds that the band was interested in. And they’re happy with the results – for the first time in a while, it turns out. “We all really like this record, more than the past two. In hindsight when we talk about them, there’s some good stuff but we’re not completely satisfied. We’re a three headed beast, so we’re trying to keep everybody happy at the same time. You have to make compromises because of that, and sometimes when you look back you think ‘I wish I’d spoken up about that’. Part of the reason we took so long with this record is we wanted to be happy with it – and I still am.” Plants and Animals perform at the Orpheum Theatre on <strong>December</strong> 16. MUSIC <strong>December</strong> <strong>2016</strong>
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