Last
week
Casey Mecija from
Ohbijou sent me a sneak peek at their
gorgeous new album
Beacons which comes out
April 14th. I
asked her if I could share a song with Radio 3 fans and ask her a few questions
about it.
Take a listen to track #3 "
Black Ice":
Here then is a transcription of our email exchange:
1. What is the black ice in this song a metaphor for?
I suppose when I'm speaking
of black ice I'm referring to the common occurrence of
unpredictable
situations in life. There are no signs or signals warning me; change disguises
itself in many forms and the best way I could describe it was using the imagery
and insinuations that come with black ice.
2. As a lyricist you've definitely moved out of
Brantford and let Toronto in. Why do you think place / location
figure so prominently in your songs? (Bellwoods, The Woods, Black Ice)
I am so deeply affected by
the city I live in. I am so moved by all of its idiosyncrasies. These buildings
carry so many stories: stories of love, struggle...this city is layered
with so many antithetical textures that make my eyes widen and my blood boil.
The city is dirty, yet so beautiful. I guess it's hard to explain but I like to
write about what I see. I like to write about the spaces I move through and
right now that space is Toronto.
3. The obvious answer is you're one of the brightest lights in
indie-pop, but you're too humble to say that, so why the title Beacons?Beacons is the title of this album for many reasons but the
one that resonates with me is rooted in the song Jailbird Blues. There's a line
in the song that says "
No beacon truths can shed this skin of jailbird
blues I'm stirring in." I remember sitting thinking about that lyric in
relation to the whole process of recording this album. In simmering with those
experiences/memories I felt like we have shed skin/realized those
"beacon truths." This album took us a while to complete, it even
began to become a weight with how long it was taking but as we started to near
completion it
felt like we were following those beacons rather than letting
them confine us. I hope that makes sense in some way.
4. Where did you record this? Who produced it?
We recorded this album in
many locations. From various
nooks in Toronto, to Jamie's
grandma's cottage on
Muldrew Lake to the
Banff Centre of the Arts in Alberta. We worked along with
many people to produce the record as well. We had the fortune of working with
Chris Stringer (
The D'urbervilles,
Timber Timbre) in Toronto and
Howard
Bilerman (
Basia Bulat,
Arcade Fire) and
Tony Berg (
The Replacements) in Banff.
Ohbijou also played an integral role in producing this album so I would say it
was very much a collaborative effort.
5. What was one specific wish you had for this next release when you
began the process?
With this release I always
hoped that we would experiment with more sounds and create a songs that were
more vibrant and full than our previous release. I think we've accomplished
that and am excited to share it with everyone.
Beacons comes out April 14th, 2009.
