Sauf les drones unveiled their third album Versions du vivant on May 25th
Montreal instrumental post-rock band Sauf les drones unveiled their third album Versions du vivant on May 25th.
Their wordless sound poetry, full of experimental, droning, and cinematic textures, remains uplifting, hopeful, and combative. Formed in 2017, the band draws its influences from Do Make Say Think, Bell Orchestre, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Rós. They like to combine their live performances with dance or poetry – whether in the context of their work with the collective Les Louves during the Nuit blanche in Montreal in 2019 or with Névé Duma, the author of the poems that will accompany the album and who will read them at the launch party. The band recorded a live session with Sofar Montreal and has shared the stage with artists such as Crabe, Backxwash, Thisquietarmy.
After their 2019 debut album, Lieux anonymes, the band released a sophomore album, Chercher le trouble, in May 2021 in collaboration with Coralie Gauthier (Minkworks) on harp, who officially joined the band in January 2022.
Their third album Versions du vivant was released on May 25th and is their most ambitious one to date. It includes new instruments such as accordion, clarinet, French horn, and cello, all part of a 10-piece ensemble. The album explores neo-classical and electroacoustic (notably through the use of tape recordings). It takes place in a dystopian universe where the Earth is slowly dying and where control and surveillance technologies are at their peak. In this context, a band of mysterious characters tries to escape by creating their own community valuing autonomy and reconnection to the land and to different forms of life, spirituality, and art.
The album was recorded, mixed, and engineered by Francis Ledoux (Zouz, Helena Deland, Jesse Mac Cormack). This album, like the others, will be distributed as a zine containing poems exploring its themes.
Listen to Versions du vivant below and learn more about Sauf les drones via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
We are an instrumental post-rock group based in Montreal, primarily composed of women and queer people. In the core of the band, there are six instrumentalists: Cassandre on keyboards, Barbara on trombone, Christophe on drums, Coralie on harp, Chlo on bass, and Charlotte on violin. Our experimental, drone, and cinematic music remains captivating, fragile, and powerful all at once.
Tell us a bit about your most recent release.
Our latest album is called Versions du vivant. For this album, three additional instrumentalists were invited to play: Camille Rosset-Balcer on clarinet, Sarah Cayer on French horn, and Irma Chapeau-Morin on cello. In addition to post-rock, the album explores different music styles such as neo-classical, electroacoustic, and experimental music. It was recorded, mixed, and mastered by Francis Ledoux at Studio Latraque. It will be distributed in the form of a zine containing a download code. The zine is designed by Roxanne Bélisle and the feminist printing collective la guillotine and includes poems by Névé Dumas addressing themes of autonomy, community, and queerness in the context of the end of the world.
Where do you tend to pull inspiration from when writing?
We enjoy jamming as the first step in the composition process, whether it’s the entire group, in small ensembles, or even individually. We draw inspiration from themes of community and queerness. Our musical inspirations come from artists like Do Make Say Think, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Sigur Rós.
Do you have any upcoming shows you’d like to tell us about?
We had an album launch show on May 25th at Sala Rossa. It will feature poetry, projections, and 10 instrumentalists on stage.
What’s your goal for 2023?
Our main goal for 2023 was the release of this new album. Now that it’s done, we want to gradually start reflecting on the next project. Several ideas come to mind, such as collaborating with other artists, but it’s still a bit too early to know exactly what. Only the future will tell!