…Frankly, no one in Canadian music these days makes a sound like this. Sylvie did, with synthesised keyboard loops and teasing washes of guitar squall over the driving beats from that amazing rhythm section. Arenas, cold and silent as tombs, await their crazed sound.
~EXCLAIM
Renowned for an unbelievable live show and praised for their blend of post-punk structures and indie-pop melodies, Sylvie is finally back in the saddle again.
Three years since the release of “An Electric Trace”, Sylvie is brimming with anticipation to present “Trees and Shade are our Only Fences” to the world. Recorded and produced by the legendary J. Robbins (Against Me, Jets to Brazil, Jawbreaker) in Baltimore, MD, “Trees and Shade are our Only Fences” is true to form, succinctly balancing the rich musical complexity and persuasively melodic harmonies.
Noticeably more focused, the album’s gorgeous arrangements have a more finely tuned sense of precision. The addition of Erin Passmore ..boards and vocals results in a welcomed new layer of pop happiness and stunning group harmonies.
Formed in Regina, SK in 1999, Sylvie debuted with their first full-length album I Wish I Was Driving in 2003, garnering the band a nomination for outstanding independent album of the year at the WCMAs. “An Electric Trace” was released in 2005 through Smallman Records. Sylvie has played with Minus the Bear, Pony Up, Hot Hot Heat, Controller Controller, Death From Above 1979, Wintersleep, Small Sins, and Ghosts of Modern Man, and has showcased at CMJ, NXNE, CMW and SXSW. In 2006 Sylvie won the CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award, which was presented to the band during a live CBC recording at NXNE. Sylvie was deemed ‘The star attraction’ by the Toronto Star in advance of Canadian Music Week, 2006.
Sylvie will be touring North America in support of “Trees and Shade are our Only Fences”; watch here for updates.
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Written by Rob Slack…
“Said The Whale is an indie band without the indie baggage. No irony, no hipster posing. Said The Whale’s music is witty and smart and artful and soulful. They are the sound of Vancouver’s perpetually grey skies and snow topped mountains and the Lions Gate Bridge. The sound of being trapped by water on three sides and the Coastal Range on the fourth. The sound of laying on your back in Stanley Park on a warm summer day watching the clouds. The sound of being twenty-something and free and heartbroken.
Said The Whale is one-part Brian Wilson, one-part Nick Cave, a dash of the Shins, sprinkled with the Decemberists. Leave out the world of weary woe, shake, pour into your favorite legion glass and enjoy. They’re a young band heading out into the world with a sound of their own.”