Blessed, Dominique Fils-Aimé, and Black Dresses
Blessed
iii // Flemish Eye
You’d be hard pressed to find a more innovative band in Canada than Abbotsford B.C.’s Blessed. They’ve become lauded for their ability to fill release after release with expansive tracks blending multiple genres, shaping and segueing elaborate rhythms and never lacking in energy and emotion. The four piece’s DIY spirit and seemingly tireless work ethic has seen them self book countless tours across North America and self release 2019s Salt. So after years of witnessing the members of Blessed put all of themselves into the project, it's been exceedingly great to see them finally gain representation on multiple ends, especially when the collaborations seem so fitting. For their latest release iii, Blessed have joined a cast of some of Canada’s best and most eclectic, having been signed to Calgary based label Flemish Eye. Free of convention and form and uninhibited in its songwriting, iii sits comfortably in the Flemish Eye catalogue.
With 2019’s Salt showing us what Blessed can be at full force at LP length, they’ve returned to the EP format for iii. Blessed take a step forward both conceptually and musically on the new EP. iii is a lot like the balancing of misshapen blocks presented on the EP’s artwork. Each block representing a different aspect of the album, equally important to the structure of the entire piece as a whole - experimental, asymmetrical, and inter-dependent. They’ve expanded on the synth and electronic elements presented on Salt. The guitars on this record are still very present but take less reign and focus within the mix, with piano often taking over lead lines. While the percussive elements on iii still often have a driving direction, you get an overall feel that iii is a softer record than what we’re used to from Blessed. They’ve become a lot more willing to give space for parts to breathe and melody to grow. That's not to say they don’t give us the sprawling tense moments that strike mathy at times. There’s just more patience required to get there, which at times satisfies greater when it’s finally given. The band breaks further from convention with the all-star cast of producers recruited for mixing duties, with each track mixed by a different individual.
Opening track “Sign” (produced by Purity Ring’s Corrin Roddick) sits back in its slower tempo as tender verses get punctuated by a series of tense synth shots reminiscent of the movie trailer “BWAAAHHHHH.” The song works its way to an outro situated around a simple piano line. As the outro expands you get a feeling this may be Blessed’s prettiest moment on record.
Lead single “Structure” follows, a track about the frustrations of performative action by others and self. Produced by Tortoise’s John McEntire, it center’s around a descending line, first presented by piano. Each verse is given a slightly new arrangement as vocalist Drew Reickman’s monotone melody is peppered over top. The single climaxes with an outro more akin to previous Blessed work as driving drums and a precise bass line give a platform for intricate guitar work.
The Graham Walsh (Holy Fuck) produced album highlight, “Centre,” forms around a spastic drum beat. The band plays with the skipping rhythm as acute guitar work tags in and out with Reickman’s contrasting light vocal line. The band takes multiple detours working off the beat till the track culminates with dizzying guitars and pianos while a walking bass line dances around the vocal melody. The band then hits their heaviest moment on the record with a fit of off kilter shots as drummer Jake Holmes delivers with a truly impressive display.
The four track EP concludes with the tender “Movement.” The track is given a lofi tinge by Reickmans mix, comparable to the work and beauty of Cindy Lee. Sonically it contrasts the rest of the record fairly drastically but sets a platform to lead the listener out softly.
With iii you get a sense of a new direction from Blessed. Sonically we’re presented different emotions from the songs than what we’ve grown used to from Blessed. It feels like a foreshadowing of what we can hope from Blessed in the future, though a band as innovative as Blessed often blasts beyond expectations.
- Kennedy Pawluk
Dominique Fils-Aimé
Three Little Words // Ensoul Records
Wow. This album is everything I needed and more. Quebec artist Dominique Fils-Aimé has a way of surrounding you entirely and taking over your mind with her music, which her new album, Three Little Words, accomplishes immediately.
Starting off the album off with a bang, “Grow Mama Grow” reels you in within the first few bars. She uses horns and harmonies to compliment her voice in a powerful, yet soothing manner and holds it all down with a beat that is hard to resist dancing to. Including a key change and a completely different section to end off the song, this track seriously has it all. It was a fantastic choice for the album opener.
Fils-Aimé does a great job of maximizing her vocal ability throughout Three Little Words, using it for more than just the melody in each song. Her voice acts as percussion, provides harmonies, and adds layers of colour to her beautifully written melodic lines. Her track “Mind Made Up” includes a lot of layered vocals and is seriously impressive regarding her vocal parts. Definitely check this one out. Another great one to look at for complex vocals is “While We Wait”. It’s catchy and has charm that old barbershop style songs have.
I think my favourite track is “You Left Me”, which also has a barbershop feel. It includes snapping, which never fails to hook me. She takes painful lyrics and sings them with uplifting instrumentals, creating an awesome contrast. I find songs that have painful lyrics to incredibly happy sounding music is often more impactful than an obvious sounding sad song. It takes that much more emotion to convey the feelings behind the lyrics. Fils-Aimé does a great job of this and gives us a gem to cherish.
Fils-Aimé steps way out of the box in a magnificent way for Three Little Words. She uses a lot of 60s influence while putting her own spin on each phrase. Managing to create catchy songs, they all have a sound that is unmistakable her own and explode with life throughout. This album is now in my rotation indefinitely. It has so much colour and personality, it makes it hard to turn off.
- Holly-Anne Gilroy
Black Dresses
Forever In Your Heart // blacksquares
Leading up to Valentine’s Day, Ada Rook and Devi McCallion hinted at some surprise happening that day. At that time, it was understood that Black Dresses was over with the release of Peaceful as Hell (2020) due to online harassment. But Devi and Rook would continue to collaborate in a number of capacities - as this was the case with their 100 gecs remix, their single with ESPer99, their features with Backxwash, their guest spots in their respective solo projects and many other instances. So in a sense, it is not surprising that Devi and Rook had put together a number of tracks over the course of 2020. Forever In Your Heart was released and celebrated through a visualizer YouTube video that streamed on February 14, 2020.
As a whole, Forever In Your Heart is a faithful follow up to the scatterbrained and dynamic aspects of Black Dresses’ previous work that makes each track unique in their concept and execution. To give an example, the album starts off with “PEACESIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” which ranges from a crisp DJent intro a la Meshuggah seamlessly changing over to a poppier hook and back - and to change it up, the bridge embraces a disjointed electronic breakdown that manages to make a really dancey metal track.
The 15-track record will jump between all of these different genre-bending elements that Black Dresses have adopted as part of their style. There are some tracks worth highlighting in the record. First of, “Bulldozer” is the third track in the album and it starts off with this refrain coming as the main hook of the track. “Pussy like a bulldozer” repeats over and over to this booming bass and drum that immediately got this stuck in my head. “Tiny Ball” starts up with this lo-fi take of Devi and Rook singing “Everything's inside a tiny little ball / Of fear and pain” - what I image Black Dresses’ drafting songs sounds like - and then it transitions into a more crisp take of the song giving the track a sense of dimension. “Ragequitted” is one of the softer tracks that is driven by Devi’s melancholic lyrical delivery and Rook’s glitchy auto-tuned break in between; even if Devi is joking at the end of the track about how she didn’t practice, her delivery really hits when the lines “I don't wanna do this anymore” repeat. “Perfect Teeth” is one of the more experimental and industrial tracks in the release, starting off with this spectral intro that drops into ballistic beats and harsh vocals - this is quickly followed up with “Zero Ultra,” which starts up with the catchiest beat and ends up dropping a hardcore breakdown at the end for good measure.
Overall, Black Dresses offers some nice extensions to the wide-ranging sounds that they are known to cultivate; and though some may be concerned that this is not up to par with Peaceful as Hell, I don’t think that was the point in releasing these songs Devi and Rook have been sitting on.
With the release of Forever In Your Heart, Ada Rook and Devi McCallion offered a pleasant surprise for anyone who has been following along with their work. As of yet, it is uncertain whether or not Black Dresses is properly back - but that doesn't matter, as regardless we know that Devi and Rook are consistently working on experimenting, trying things out, and taking that space to follow up as it feels appropriate. I think the best take away from this album is that Devi and Rook are still having fun with their music and that core guides them in directions that may not be exactly clear to anyone outside that creative process - and that’s part of that is what makes their music so unique. As a surprise, Forever In Your Heart comes as a great addition to the Black Dresses catalogue ready for anyone itching for more from Devi and Rook.
- Simone A. Medina Polo
