Advertisement

Music

Plants and Animals

For their third album, Montreal indie rock trio Plants and Animals tinkered with their approach. Instead of jamming out songs in the studio the way they did in the past, they developed and demoed the material over several wintery months, and by the time they headed to Paris to record last spring, they knew exactly what they were doing.

The dynamic result, The End Of That (Secret City), features concise tunes that balance urgent, widescreen rock with hazy acoustic-guitar-fuelled folk. Penned in the aftermath of a relationship breakup, singer/guitarist Warren Spicer’s agitated lyrics stand out for their open, conversational, restless tone.

Ahead of the band’s album release show at Lee’s Palace on Saturday (April 21), we reached drummer Mark Woodley en route to a gig in Birmingham, Alabama. (He’d just purchased sugared pecans and oranges from “a big man at a little stand.”)

Q&A: Matthew Woodley, Drummer for Plants and Animals

You’ve returned to your more acoustic early beginnings and streamlined the songwriting. Whatever will we call you now that “indie jam band” doesn’t fit?

We’re not a jam band any more? Decent! I think because of our name, some people assumed we were hippies, but I always thought of jam bands as ones that take turns playing really long solos. We’ve never done that. The End Of That is the most economical we’ve ever been in terms of song structure and sound. That isn’t to say our three-part-epic days are behind us, just like the acoustic guitar wasn’t behind us when we put out La La Land. We missed the colour it brings to things.

The Paris studio where you recorded – and where Feist recorded The Reminder – sounds idyllic.

It’s got the magic of an old mansion and the coziness of home all in one, and it’s anchored by an old schooner of a recording console that they call “La vieille dame.” Plus, the people who work there are incredible. Our record wouldn’t be what it is without Lionel Darenne, who engineered it and played therapist on the side.

Why the change in writing approach?

In the past, we’d already be a few steps into recording before songs really took shape. We’d have bed tracks done before lyrics were written, or we’d give a song character through overdubs but then not be able to go back and change, say, the drums. This time we wanted to just go in and execute. We wanted it to sound like a band playing songs together, simply, directly. I don’t necessarily think either approach is better. Some of our best moments have been happy accidents from taking risks while the tape was rolling.

Were you surprised by the polarizing reaction your last album got?

I have pretty mixed feelings about that record myself. The sophomore album is a tough one. We recorded [the Juno- and Polaris-nominated debut] Parc Avenue over two years and had no expectations. Then we toured like crazy and went straight into the studio to make La La Land. There was less breathing room and we had a different, possibly skewed sense of who we were. I don’t think we communicated with one another so well about what we were setting out to do. With The End Of That, we talked a lot more beforehand and made sure we were on the same page.

Advertisement

Exclusive content and events straight to your inbox

Subscribe to our Newsletter

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

By signing up, I agree to receive emails from Now Toronto and to the Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Recently Posted