Legendary new wave band Men Without Hats—once from Montreal but these days based in Victoria—recently released their first album of originals in a decade.
The band is best known for ’80s pop standards “Safety Dance” and “Pop Goes the World”; lead singer and founding member Ivan Doroschuk says that new album Again (Part 2) is made up of songs written over a 40-year span.
“There are some brand new songs that we wrote while we were in studio making the album, but there are some songs that have evolved from the Pop Goes the World era and the Sideways era,” says Doroschuk. “We’ve been on tour across America and the world and there’s a lot of free time while you’re on the road, so I wrote some there too. The writing on the album spans about 40 years, so it’s a good window as to where Men Without Hats is at.”
Doroschuk says that the first single, “If the World Should End Today,” offers a pretty good hint as to the subject matter of the record.
“We’re still talking about the same things that we were in the ’80s,” says Doroschuk. “We’re still talking about climate change and human rights. Besides the topics that we’re exploring, every time I turn the radio on I hear ’80s influences on the pop music of today. Our stuff sounds vintage but it has a place in today’s music.”
Doroschuk was the only founding member remaining on the band’s last album of originals, 2012’s Love in the Age of War. He has since been rejoined by his brother Colin, who handles guitars, bass, keyboards, and vocals. The Doroschuks round out their sound with guitarist Sho Murray.
“Colin and I produced the record along with our guitarist Sho Murray, who engineered the whole album,” says Doroschuk. “On this album we are joined by Colin’s daughter Sahara Sloan, who does a lot of the background vocals. It’s a real family affair.”
Again (Part 2) maintains an authentic ’80s new wave sound from start to finish, which Doroschuk says required about 25 keyboards to achieve.
“We went old school on this one,” he says. “I’ve saved a lot of my gear from the ’80s. We had a Prophet 5 in there, which is a synthesizer that was used on the ‘Safety Dance’ session.”
Again (Part 2) comes 40 years after their debut Rhythm of Youth—Doroschuk says that they have big plans for their 40th anniversary tour, which starts with the UK and Europe before crossing the US in the summer.
“The Canadian tour is shaping up for the fall,” says Doroschuk. “We will play across Canada starting in September. We haven’t got a date confirmed for Victoria, but it’s been over 10 years so we’re anxious to do a show here. Sho and I are also putting together a big outdoor festival for Victoria, probably in the new year.”
Doroschuk says there’s a reason he hasn’t pushed to book shows in Victoria over the years.
“One of the reasons I moved here was to be invisible,” he says. “I can go anywhere in the city and nobody knows who I am. It wasn’t like that in Montreal.”
Doroschuk has called Victoria home for almost 20 years now.
“I moved here to raise my son,” says Doroschuk. “I was a stay-at-home dad for about 10 years. Moving to Victoria made child rearing a lot easier. When you’re right on the ocean it’s like living in a national park. It was great bringing up my son here. Being able to be outside with him all year and go to the beach every day was awesome. I love it here. I’d have a hard time going back.”