Ben Shemie is known to many as the lead singer and guitarist of Montreal alt-rock unit Suuns, but he's ready to branch out on his own with a debut solo album. A Skeleton will arrive on February 15 via Hands in the Dark Records, and you can hear a new track from the album now.
The upcoming full-length offering is described as "an experimental pop album of cold synthetic sounds with touches of psychedelia," and it was recorded and mixed by Dave Smith at Montreal's Breakglass Studio.
The album was recorded in a single take with no overdubs, capturing traces of the recording atmosphere as it was made and creating juxtaposition between Shemie's masterful control over machinery and the unpredictability of his surroundings.
"This is my first solo album and its a mix of lo-fi experimental pop tunes mixed with ambient synthesizer feedback explorations; two pretty different worlds colliding," Shemie tells Exclaim! "I try to act as a guide and let the machines speak for themselves. In this way I think it's very much in the tradition of electronic music. Each performance being a new set of circumstances and the potential for great things to happen."
The first sampling of the album has arrived with the title track. Shemie describes "A Skeleton" as the "most accessible" song on the record, but also one that encapsulates the LP's theme that "we are one layer away from being indistinguishable from one another."
Scroll past Shemie's upcoming tour dates to hear the song and watch the video for "A Skeleton" below.
A Skeleton is available for pre-order here in a variety of formats, including the first 100 copies on white vinyl.
Tour dates:
02/14 Dijon, France - Le Consortium,
02/23 Paris, France - Le 104
03/20 Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere
03/21 Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA
03/25 Rock Island, IL 0 Rozz Tox
03/26 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
03/27 Detroit, MI - El Club
03/28 Hamilton, ON - TBA
03/31 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
04/22 Limoges, France - Le Phare
04/23 Angers, France - Le Chabada
04/25 Kortrijk, Belgium - Wilde Westen
04/27 Paris, France Le 104 (Nuit Chloé)
The upcoming full-length offering is described as "an experimental pop album of cold synthetic sounds with touches of psychedelia," and it was recorded and mixed by Dave Smith at Montreal's Breakglass Studio.
The album was recorded in a single take with no overdubs, capturing traces of the recording atmosphere as it was made and creating juxtaposition between Shemie's masterful control over machinery and the unpredictability of his surroundings.
"This is my first solo album and its a mix of lo-fi experimental pop tunes mixed with ambient synthesizer feedback explorations; two pretty different worlds colliding," Shemie tells Exclaim! "I try to act as a guide and let the machines speak for themselves. In this way I think it's very much in the tradition of electronic music. Each performance being a new set of circumstances and the potential for great things to happen."
The first sampling of the album has arrived with the title track. Shemie describes "A Skeleton" as the "most accessible" song on the record, but also one that encapsulates the LP's theme that "we are one layer away from being indistinguishable from one another."
Scroll past Shemie's upcoming tour dates to hear the song and watch the video for "A Skeleton" below.
A Skeleton is available for pre-order here in a variety of formats, including the first 100 copies on white vinyl.
Tour dates:
02/14 Dijon, France - Le Consortium,
02/23 Paris, France - Le 104
03/20 Brooklyn, NY - Elsewhere
03/21 Philadelphia, PA - PhilaMOCA
03/25 Rock Island, IL 0 Rozz Tox
03/26 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
03/27 Detroit, MI - El Club
03/28 Hamilton, ON - TBA
03/31 Montreal, QC - La Sala Rossa
04/22 Limoges, France - Le Phare
04/23 Angers, France - Le Chabada
04/25 Kortrijk, Belgium - Wilde Westen
04/27 Paris, France Le 104 (Nuit Chloé)
