Sound Seekers by Fateema Sayani is published weekly at OttawaMagazine.com. Read Fateema Sayani’s culture column in Ottawa Magazine and follow her on Twitter @fateemasayani
The Pop Band’s CD Release Gimmick is Savvy, but It’s Not the Best Thing About Them.
Their First Full-Length Album, No Room for Light, Speaks for Itself
Ottawa five-piece band Fevers will celebrate the release of their Laurence Currie-produced full-length album called No Room for Light this weekend with three shows in a 24-hour period.
There’s the lower-ley minimal electronic late-night set at Mugshots on Friday, followed by a disco nap for the band, then a Saturday afternoon show as part of the roving 4-in-1 Music Sessions that sees bands play in parks and office spaces. The 24-hour fever caps off with a big bender of an evening at Maverick’s on Saturday night with openers The Love Machine (who will release a new album in September).
The 24 Hour Fever idea is a nice hook for a release party, as the three shows allow the band to show off its variety of musical styles from the ambient-electro, to the acoustic, to the club-filling sonic sound-walls that are sprinkled throughout the 11 tracks on the new album. It also allows people three chances to see the band, day or night, so it’s functional in addition to being a great tactic. But the album doesn’t really need a lot of savvy promo, because it speaks for itself.
No Room for Light opens with “Autumn’s Dead,” which showcases Sarah Bradley’s beautiful pathos. By track two, called “Pray for Sound,” the band hits the disco vibe with one of the few rah-rah clubby hits on the album. If you were familiar with the band’s previous EP and its title track, “Passion Is Dead (Long Live Fashion),” which was a bit of dancefloor gold, you’ll find few of those Euro-dance beats on this album. No Room for Light is much darker in sound and lyrics. It’s also a much more thorough showcase of the band as a whole. We hear backing vocalist Colin MacDougal in less of a support role on this album. He and Bradley play off one another’s regret on “The Veil,” while bass player Jim Hopkins and drummer Mike Stauffer keep the low end sturdy and electronics man Martin Charbonneau lines up all the samplers and synth strokes for just the right touch of party.
The album wavers between revelry, melancholy, and back again as captured in the song “Dance, Cry, Dance” with its anthemic wail about forgetting all your problems. The full-length is a stunning, outta-the-park debut from the city’s top-shelf indie-electro band.
Fevers shows this weekend:
Fevers and Loon Choir with DJs J-Fun and Atherton: Friday, August 23, Mugshots.
Fevers, Greg McEvoy, Ilvekyo, Still Native: Saturday, August 24, Jackpine.
Fevers, The Love Machine, and Greg McEvoy: Saturday, August 24, Maverick’s.