Andrew Forde

"Branches" (ft. Shad)

BY Sarah MurphyPublished Sep 29, 2017

Toronto violin virtuoso Andrew Forde has collaborated with big-name artists like Sting, Mary J. Blige and Justin Bieber, and his latest track adds Canadian rapper Shad to the esteemed list.
 
They've worked together on a new track called "Branches," and it arrives this week to mark what would have been iconic composer and broadcaster Glenn Gould's 85th birthday. The song is set to appear on Forde's upcoming album Ideas of North, which plays on Gould's 1967 radio doc The Idea of North to tell contemporary stories of Canada.
 
Speaking to CBC about the creative collaboration with Shad, Forde explained:
 
I told him I saw it being a story told in three parts, like a concerto. The first movement is a treatise of the world around us; it is delivered as if a violin was performing the allegro moderato. The second is an intimate reflection of self, and where self fits in to the broader world. Here Shad goes off and traps. I had no idea it would end up working as well as it did. The final movement is delivered as an allegro vivacissimo. His tone is pointed and fierce, but ends again as an allegro moderato, where we started off.
 
Hear those classical concepts collide with Shad's modern-day delivery and lyrics below.
 

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