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Music

Hands in gloves

WINTER GLOVES at the Drake Hotel Underground (1150 Queen West), Tuesday (September 15). $7. 416-531-5042.


Winter Gloves is no longer the one-man bedroom recording project it once was, but even though Charles F. now works with a full band, he’s still got a bit of the dictator in him. On a break from recording the follow-up to 2008’s About A Girl (Paper Bag), the Montreal songwriter admits he’s happy to be back in the producer’s chair for this one.

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“I like working with other people, but at the same time I always end up making compromises because I don’t want to be the asshole in the studio. Sometimes I end up saying yes or no just to be nice, and later I feel bad about it.”

Not that he was disappointed in the producing job Jon Drew (Tokyo Police Club, Fucked Up) did on their debut. He’s quite happy with it, and should be. The bouncy keyboard pop tunes swing and soar, flirting with dance rock without sounding trendy.

But wary of too-many-cooks syndrome, he’s avoided writing new songs as a band, preferring instead to work with each member separately to find a cohesive vision.

To quench fan hunger during the between-album interim, the four-piece is about to drop A Way To Celebrate, an alternate version of their debut. The limited-edition release includes early demos, acoustic performances, remixes and re-recorded versions of every song from About A Girl.

In addition to their Drake show, while in Toronto they’ll also play the Canadian Music Café, an industry event affiliated with TIFF that aims to connect bands with music supervisors who pick songs for TV shows, films and ads. It wasn’t so long ago that you’d hear the indie rock crowd screaming “sellout” at any band willing to peddle their songs for commercial use. As Charles F. points out, these days it’s more about exposure than royalties.

“Music video and radio play aren’t what they used to be. Having a song in something like Grey’s Anatomy offers a huge amount of exposure. I remember when that happened to [Polaris winner] Patrick Watson, and it made a big difference for him.”

benjaminb@nowtoronto.com

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