Sometimes a Canadian indie rock band gets to record their latest album in a pretty cool spot. But a recording studio in a 19th century mansion just 15 minutes from downtown Paris? Plants and Animals have to be kidding us.
“We did it in a big house and that house itself is an instrument,” says the Montreal-based band’s drummer and vocalist Matthew Woodley about recording Plants and Animals’ The End of That at La Frette Studios in France. “There are giant, carpeted rooms and chandeliers and a grandfather clock with a secret staircase behind it. We put our amps in the wine cellar in the basement and there are these microscopic cobwebs there that deaden the sound just so.”
Under the guiding hands of engineer Lionel Darenne, who has also worked with Feist and Readymade, the three-piece took their magnificent surroundings as a chance to try something different for their third album. The End of That was the first time that Plants and Animals wrote songs in advance of recording, as opposed to the improvisational jams that ended up on their first two albums. And, according to Woodley, it wasn’t just Darenne who was able to provide feedback during the recording.
“There were songbirds going at it outside for most of the day,” he says. “The recording console itself is built from the wood from an old schooner with 1,001 tales from the stormy sea. The walls spoke to each other at night and sometimes between takes, if they had any comments or constructive criticism.”
The result is an album that lives and breathes, but it’s a life that isn’t always easy. It’s a life where relationships come to an end, and the cycle of life begins all over again, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
“The album means coming of age all over again for the first time,” explains Woodley, who, along with guitarist/vocalist Warren Spicer and multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Nicolas Basque, created songs like “Control Me” that are beautiful with a dark edge. And with sugar on top? “‘Control Me’ is about control, lack of control, relationships, and, believe it or not, doughnuts,” says Woodley.
The cruelest question you can ever ask a musician is to pick their favourite song off any of their albums. The End of That is teeming with really good songs, but Woodley only has to reminisce about the amazing La Frette studios to come up with his hard-fought answer.
“Hmmmm,” he ponders. “I like ‘Before’ a lot. It really reminds me of being at that studio in France. I can honestly smell the place when I hear that song.
Plants and Animals
Wednesday, October 31, $20
Lucky Bar
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