Groenland :: The Chase

Groenland-TheChaseThe Québécois band, Groenland released their first album, titled The Chase, on April 16. The band was formed in 2011 by Sabrina Halde and Jean-Vivier Lévesque. Including Halde and Lévesque, the band is composed of Jonathan Charette, Simon Gosselin, Gabrielle Girard-Charest and Fanny C. Laurin. Halde and Levésque initially saw this band making a move into the electronic scene, but they “found that kind of boring”, and decided to go in a different direction.

Combining light electronic music with cellos, violins, ukuleles and sweet, sultry vocals provided by Halde, Groenland constructs their own sound. The result is a genuinely original album. The band members are incredibly talented musicians, which, in my opinion, is rare to find in the world of indie music. A great number of indie bands make it big not because they’re anymore musically talented than your average Joe, but because they can pull off the indie persona necessary for making it in the industry. Groenland does both. Their musical expertise allows them to use their instruments in non-traditional ways (for example, their brilliant fifty-second track ‘Detour’).  The créme de la créme of it all is that The Chase was recorded and mixed by Sébastien Blais-Montpetit, who worked with Patrick Watson and Radio Radio.

GroenlandThe Chase, in the words of Halde, is “the pursuit of an ideal, the desire to be in constant evolution, our tendency to put ourselves in danger to understand what we’re made of. It’s also about taking risks, for our own self, alone or with someone.” These words come alive in the music of the album. The risks the band takes orchestrating many instruments in a very non-traditional way pays off. They placed themselves in a certain amount of danger and took a shot for an ideal, hoping that ideal became a reality. The good news for the band is that the ideal they had did become a reality, and a wonderful one at that. This album is the porcelain doll of new albums: a delicate, intricate classic.

For tour dates and to stream their new album, visit the band’s website.


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