Monogrenade’s Composite Made of Electro-Pop and Synth
Monogrenade is a francophone band from our own Montreal. Their music can be described as pop and synth with a tinge of a classical feel. The band is composed of Francois Lessard (guitar), Marianne Houle (cello), Mathieu Collette (drums and vocals) and Jean-Michel Pigeon (lyrics, vocals, guitar and keyboard), who I’ve talked to about their upcoming album Composite. I was happily surprised to discover this band. Usually I tend to stay away from French music from Quebec but I couldn’t when I heard Monogrenade. If I had to compare their sound to anyone, they definitely sound like Radiohead, but with a French twist
Composite is going to sound different from previous Monogrenade records, containing a more electronic sound. Piegeon, having recently moved in to a new studio, was very influenced by synth beats. He shares that during the creation of Composite, he was watching a lot of 80’s movies, which spurred a more synth and somewhat electro-pop elements to the new songs.
[bandcamp width=350 height=470 album=1903229635 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false t=7]
Composite is a song about a relationship. Stating that most of the songs on the album are about human relationships, Pigeon felt that choosing Composite as the title-track was a good way to explain the entirety of the album’s content.
When I asked him if there was a particular song he was more attached to, Pigeon said that it’s very hard to choose just one as all the songs are very personal and symbolic to him. “Cercles et pentagonnes must be my favorite from the album if I had to choose one”, he says. He explained that the song coincided with the album cover, which has an image of the moon and stars, hence the reference to circles and pentagons. “It helps understand the whole concept of the album [better],” says Pigeon.
[bandcamp width=100% height=142 album=3768059270 size=large bgcol=ffffff linkcol=0687f5 tracklist=false artwork=small]
Pigeon is the mastermind behind the lyrics and the melody on Composite. This took a year to record unlike their previous record, Tantale, which they recorded in a span of two months, in a cottage outside of Montreal. Unlike Tantale, Composite was recorded in the Montreal studio. Pigeon wrote the music first and the lyrics came to him after.
Monogrenade has its album launch at La Tulipe (4530 Papineau) Feb 5th. 6 p.m. Free
