The Montreal-based band serves great music on its 2015 EP. Electro jazzy songs like Bus Ride are somehow a mix of very different types of ambiances. A little of James-Blake-type of cold electro beats mixed with spices of soft dark intimate jazz. Each song is very different from one another. From the mysterious By the Sea with its noise and distortion to the bouncy soft emo pop of Fallacy, Our Book and the Authors show a lot of versatility, yet still a lot of coherence while displaying a wide palette of sounds.

The jazz feel comes from the piano chords. They serve as a great mood maker on the first minute of By The Sea, before the song switches into a harder, more industrial feel. There is a little bit of Rhye in these songs, without Mike Milosh’s (another Canadian) sad sexiness.

 

The singing can also be more powerful, especially on upbeat songs like this EP’s title track. Suddenly, because the band is using major chords to build this song, Our Book and the Authors produces a danceable song. On the EP’s last song, Fallacy, the singer’s lazy and low voice is again strongly supported by solid piano playing and a more traditional 4/4 beat on the drums.

The magic on “Equals” is the perfect blend of very modern electro sounds (there are dubstep low basses in the late stages of By The Sea), with strong jazz chords on the piano that give these songs great depth, which lacks very often in electronic music. Probably because many producers aren’t great pianists.

On songs like Synchronized Symptoms, the band doesn’t hesitate to blend very different styles: on a big dubstep bass, they put robot-like voices, Chinese-lady loop, electronic drums, and piano notes! Still, it never sounds like an abstract collage. It’s sticks together quite nicely.

This EP has no flaws! It’s great from start to end, with its five distinct songs in which vigilant music lovers will discover and appreciate new details at every listening session. The album art is also fascinating because of the visual illusion it creates. Very cool!

There isn’t a lot of information available on the band, apart than the name of its members: Gabriel D’amour, Jean-Christian Arod, Pete Pételle and Pierre-David Girard

We can’t wait to hear more from Our Book and The Authors.

our book and the authors album

OUR BOOK AND THE AUTHORS
Equals EP
(independent, 2015)

-Genre: dark electro with jazz feel
-In the same style as James Blake, Rhye, The Books

Buy the album on the band’s BandCamp page
Follow the band via their Facebook page
Listen to videos on the band’s YouTube channel

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About The Author

Mélomane invétéré plongeant dans tous les genres et époques, Nicolas Pelletier a publié 6 000 critiques de disques et concerts depuis 1991, dont 1100 chez emoragei magazine et 600 sur enMusique.ca, dont il a également été le rédacteur en chef de 2009 à 2014. Il publie "Les perles rares et grands crus de la musique" en 2013, lance le site RREVERB en 2014, et devient stratège numérique des radios de Bell Média en 2015, participant au lancement de la marque iHeartRadio au Canada en 2016. Il dirige maintenant la stratégie numérique d'ICI Musique, la radio musicale de Radio-Canada.