Two musicians meet in East Toronto and form a band called Death From Above 1979. They release only one full-length album, but tour the world from the U.S. to England to Tokyo, garnering an unexpected cult following. After only five years, they break up on bitter terms. Jesse F. Keeler drops his bass, picks up a gold hockey mask, and forms electro duo MSTRKRFT with DFA 1979 producer Al-P. His former bandmate Sebastian Grainger takes his time to create a new band and produce his first solo album, Sebastien Grainger and The Mountains, which was released last November.
"This is my first record, and essentially it's the record I've always wanted to make," says Grainger. "Obviously, all that will go out the window [with] the next record I make because that one will be the best I've ever made."
Sebastien Grainger and The Mountains is made up of Grainger singing and playing guitar alongside former Illuminati bassist Nick Sewell, Germans drummer Leon Taheny, and keyboard/synth player Andrew Scott, formerly of The Meligrove Band. Though The Mountains are a group of seasoned musicians, Grainger opted to play almost all of the instruments on the album himself. "It's kind of the way I've operated for a long time," says Grainger. "I mean, Death From Above is a collaboration, but before that my recording experience is kind of limited to doing my own stuff."
Grainger originally intended to record the album in the span of a couple weeks with a full band, but he quickly dropped this idea once he actually started recording. "Once I got in the studio, I realized that I was going to need a lot more time personally with the songs to work on the arrangements, work on the parts, work on the performances," says Grainger. "I find it personally far more rewarding because I'm a bit of a narcissist. To be able to play four or five instruments and then sit back and listen to it, I kind of get off on that."
DFA 1979 fans be forewarned: the album is not about picking up where he left off. Instead, the record contains a variety of sounds, poppy and unquestionably rock 'n' roll at the same time. There's no shortage of variety, either. Grainger explores his sentimental side on tracks like the piano-driven "Love Is Not A Contest" while adding generous amounts of synth into songs like "Renegade Silence" and "Love Can Be So Mean," which creates more of a dance feel. The addictive choruses of "Who Do We Care for?" and "I Hate My Friends" will have you singing along after the first listen.
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