F&M
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F&M

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2007 | SELF | AFM

Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | SELF | AFM
Established on Jan, 2007
Duo Alternative Folk

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This band has not uploaded any videos
This band has not uploaded any videos

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"Despairing Romanticism and the Redemptive Power of Love: F&M at The Apollo"

F&M specialize in those achingly wistful minor key melodies that threaten to crush your flaming heart into smouldering smithereens. Their songs conjure up European Impressionist paintings of gloomy dusks on lonely gravel roads where heavy clouds get their bloated bellies scratched by the clawing fingers of bare tree branches.

From the opening accordion prelude of “I Have Never Seen Such Darkness,” the Edmonton trio of Ryan and Rebecca Anderson, and Bryan Reichert put a spell on their listeners that took them on a roller coaster ride between despairing romanticism and the redemptive power of love. Romantic enough to inspire pairs of lovers to get up and dance cheek to cheek. The singing voices of the Andersons with their Irish lilt were especially expressive of that indigo-dark mood. Perhaps with their classicism and soft punk style they may be likened to a cross between Leonard Cohen, whom they cover, and a sobered-up version of The Pogues. - The Walleye, Thunder Bay ON


"F&M - Live Performance Review: Supermarket, Toronto"

Every so often at a live concert, much to the delight of the audience, a group’s power and presence add to the sound in a way that doesn’t come across on an album. F&M, the thoughtful and earnest Canadiana group from Edmonton reached those heights at an intimate show at The Supermarket, August 31.

Ryan and Becky Anderson, the husband-and-wife core of F&M, were joined on stage and on tour by the versatile Bryan Reichert (occasionally referred to as the ampersand), and began the set with a re-imagined version of “Amsterdam”, a powerful song that has been reworked for the trio of F&M.

The second tune, “I Pray for Fog,” was also a song that the group saw change over the years, with the trio version in perfect balance as if the threesome had been playing together for years and years.

While always harmonious, it was Becky who was often the star of the show. Moving from accordion to piano to acoustic guitar, and back again, she displayed her obvious talents as a musician, commanding attention at centre stage. Her beautiful yet strong voice matched her instrumental skill, occasionally hitting notes reminiscent of the talented Sarah Slean, particularly when singing behind the piano on “Serenade,” a simple yet beautifully sad piece.

“She’s a powerhouse,” said Ryan after the show. “Sometimes she holds back a bit, but sooner or later she is going to fully realize it.”

Ryan certainly made the audience feel the music as well, with “This Winter, Revisted,” filling the room with December air. The trio has no problem being powerful and in control, filling the room with a harmonious and captivating sound that doesn’t often come from a group lacking drums and electric guitars. Ryan offered up a song he dubbed as “the quietly punk rock song in Canada,” and closed with a cover of a soon-to-be popular hockey song that will make its way to television.

Their albums are beautifully arranged and each of their four releases are worth a listen, even as the band has evolved. In person, however, F&M lack no reservations, physically and emotionally letting themselves escape into their very meaningful songs about love, sadness, and traveling the Canadian landscape. - Lithium Magazine


"Must-Have of the Month: F&M - At Sunset We Sing"

One of the all-time favorite bands I've discovered through writing this blog is F&M and this week they've released their latest album At Sunset We Sing. It's been three years since "Wish You Were Here" was released and I still love that record, which made me all the more excited to find out about this release and I can tell you, it's a Beauty!

F&M makes romantic music, folk with a little goth to it. In the years that have passed F&M clearly grew in their music writing skills. There are influences from all over the globe to be heard on At Sunset We Sing. From Russia to Portugal, each song has its own sound. But as an album it is not mistaken that there's only one talented band at work here, from opening track "Hands In" till the last fading seconds of "Take Me Out" F&M takes us on a trip into their own musical world and it's fantastic to be there.

Albums like these literately take the words from my fingers. I'm stuck here looking at an empty screen for hours, just listening to this beautiful record on repeat. Hoping for inspiration to write down what makes this album so good, but nothing comes to mind. Please forget about the words, just listen to the music. It is worth your full attention and if you decide to buy yourself just one record this month, may I suggest At Sunset We Sing. - Plug In, Baby (Netherlands)


"Critiques CD: F&M "At Sunset We Sing" La divine mélancolie"

Rêverie folk-baroque: on peut définir en si peu de mots le trio d’Edmonton F&M. Mais c’est bien plus que ça. Les voix de Rebecca et Ryan Anderson se complètent: l’une est aérienne, l’autre est incarnée. Avec Brian Reichert, ils ont façonné des mélodies simples, mais charmantes, à la guitare, au violon ou au piano. La reprise ardente de Kukushka, du rockeur soviétique Viktor Tsoi, est chantée en russe et en anglais. De la magie se diffuse dans l’album, une lumineuse pénombre et une brumeuse éclaircie se succèdent. - Journal Metro, Montreal Quebec


"Review – “At Sunset We Sing” – F&M"

From the icy heart of Edmonton, F&M burrows its way through the snow and cold with the flickering flames of its tonal poetry. On their first album in three years, Ryan and Rebecca Anderson and Brian Reichert deliver another dose of meticulous melodies, hypnotic lyrical repetition and a simultaneously chilling and burning minimalist style.

The fire and ice mentioned above are deliberate; F&M are constantly singing of balances: fire and ice; light and darkness; love and hate. Songwriting and vocals are split between the deep and gentle voice of Ryan and the mellifluous tones of Rebecca. The contrasts dominate songs, like the closer “Take Me Out.” Lyrics like “burning fires, falling snow” and “scold me harshly, but sing it nicely” play like a tug of war over a frantic yet subdued picking of acoustic guitar.

But sometimes the contrast plays out in relativity. “I Have Never Seen Such Darkness” is anchored in somehow-eerie accordion and few real words—in between the “la la la” lines are simple proclamations: “Oh give a heart” and “My heart is left beating.” The whimsical approach to darkness is juxtaposed with “Show Me Your Light.” Whereas the light should bring relief, it’s just beyond Ryan’s reach; “I’m a ship late at night, so show me your light” and later “Throw me off the deck, but throw me a rope/I’m a man overboard, so show me your light.” The statements are made that much more effective by, as usual, the minimal musical backdrop.

The band is as effective simple as it is more complex. Perhaps the height of F&M’s complexity comes in with its first three songs. “Hands In” begins deceptively simply as Ryan sings “I’m down…for anything you have planned” before a second guitar joins, then some thunderous piano. “And We Will Mend Our Broken Hearts” subtly brings Rebecca’s voice into the fold over gentle guitar. And Rebecca’s six-minute epic “Kukushka” retains its power first shown last year. With words by Victor Tsoi and some frantic mandolin, it’s a strong and quiet jewel.

While the Andersons’ lyrical and vocal interplay add life to the song, Bryan Reichert gives the music an extra push, supply scores of additional instrumentation from the aforementioned mandolin to violin and percussion.

Perhaps it’s just a cold time of year, but At Sunset We Sing feels especially warm and inviting, like the comforts of a pleasant dream.

Top Tracks: “And We Will Mend Our Broken Hearts”; “I Have Never Seen Such Darkness”

Rating: Proud Hoot (Really Good) + *swoop* - Grayowl Point, Toronto Ontario


"At Sunset We Sing F&M - New Releases"

With a sound described as 'folk noir' or 'alternative baroque', F&M (not to be confused with T.O. prog-rockers FM) have earned many rave reviews internationally for a string of albums released since their 2007 debut, Let Every Light Shine. That will inevitably continue for the trio's superb new album At Sunset We Sing. The record is heavily influenced by the sorrowful yet gorgeous sound of Portuguese fado, as on "I Have Never Seen Such Darkness". The presence of strong male and female vocalists ( the married couple Ryan and Rebecca Anderson) adds to the sonic richness here. Fans of Lhasa should certainly investigate a group worthy of greater attention here. - New Canadian Music


"Concert preview: F&M puts bad luck behind them with new album"

For a time, F&M’s Rebecca Anderson and her husband, Ryan, thought they were trapped in a horror film.

Scene 1: A basketball court. In a freak accident, another player shatters Ryan’s hand. He can’t pick up his guitar for months, delaying work on the band’s fourth album.

Scene 2: A snowy path. F&M’s multi-instrumentalist/producer, Bryan Reichert, breaks his leg while cross-country skiing. He ends up in a thigh-high cast, making it tough for the trio to tour the country.

“I had to drive the van, Bryan had to play all my parts and Becky had to haul all the gear,” says Ryan.

Scene 3: A partly renovated condo. The exterior wall is temporarily replaced by dark blue tarps, casting an eerie pall over the Andersons and their depressed, sun-deprived budgies.

“It SOUNDED like a horror film — you could hear (the tarps) flapping all the time,” says Rebecca, nervously laughing at the memory. “The muster point for the construction workers was right outside our bedroom window, and every morning, they’d be smoking and swearing,” adds Ryan.

For all those setbacks, F&M’s new folk-noir album, At Sunset We Sing, isn’t a dour exercise. Or is it?

“I’m down, I’m down,” Ryan laments on the opening number, Hands In, a smouldering whirlwind of chiming guitars and frustrated piano stabs. “I’m down for anything / You have planned / I can’t stand / This town.”

Talk about clever — from the title of the song to the word play to the range of emotions. “Joyful melancholy” is F&M’s description, but “hauntingly gorgeous” would work as well to summarize Ryan’s sad-sack rasps, Rebecca’s ethereal chants and piano/accordion contributions, not to mention Reichert’s intoxicating violin/mandolin flourishes.

“We think it’s one of our more mature works. We’re really proud of it,” says Rebecca, who seems equally apologetic for the three-year delay between F&M’s albums. Their previous effort, Wish You Were Here, was released in 2011, though they delivered a four-song EP, An Evening in Moscow, last year as a stop-gap, don’t-forget-us measure.

One of the EP’s standouts, Kukushka, is an acoustic and foreboding cover of a Russian tune and also appears on At Sunset We Sing. F&M sing it to commemorate the late Viktor Tsoi, who used to front Kino, one of the former Soviet Union’s only rock ’n’ roll bands. (He wrote Kukushka, or Cuckoo, shortly before he died in a car crash in 1990.)

“It’s him struggling with his legacy: ‘How much more do I have to live? Where do I fit in as an individual’?” says Rebecca, who holds a master’s degree in Soviet Russian Rock Music Culture. “‘How much free will do I actually have?’ It has all these beautiful questions and it felt related to what we were going through. It’s one of those songs I wish I wrote.”

Much of At Sunset We Sing, however, was inspired by F&M’s embrace of Fado, a genre of mournful folk music popularized in Portugal. We Miss the Sea, an accordion and mandolin shanty, documents Ryan’s longing for Victoria, B.C. — sailing is in his family’s blood — while And We Will Mend Our Broken Hearts deals with the romance of isolation and the distancing of dashed dreams.

The latter’s accompanying video, directed by Mike Robertson, feels like another horror film of sorts, with scenes of ghosts, wine glasses, and Rebecca pointing a gun at her husband. “It was kind of awkward,” says Ryan. “It was odd because I had to do it for a very long time,” she says. “It was a little uncomfortable.” - The Edmonton Journal


"Season of the Indie"

In amongst the touring acts local group F&M (right) release the latest of their albums on Saturday night, another in their line of modern folk with refined elegance and tortured emotions.
This local act is hosting a release party for their newest effort, At Sunset We Sing. Despite a challenging year fraught with broken hands and legs and fraud, the band once again brings a devilish intensity to their work, deftly combining folk music with a vibe that simultaneously engenders the feeling of vaudeville and a symphony orchestra performance. - Gig City


"F&M Wish You Were Here (Album Review)"

By Rachel SandersWith a name inspired by a well-known Edmonton funeral home, it's not surprising that F&M make music filled with drama and passion. The trio create a compelling sense of story in each of the songs on their fourth album, using the interplay between male and female voices ? hers pure and light, his rough but restrained ? to emphasize the strong narrative. Along with multi-instrumentalist Bryan Reichert, Rebecca and Ryan Anderson take a leisurely approach to acoustic folk, but add theatricality with dramatic vocal touches, accordion embellishments and unconventional song structures. The gentle pace and wide-open spaces in songs like "Goodnight," "I Pray for the Fog" and "Music by the Sea" lend a haunting mood to the music. And the cover of cowboy ballad "Streets of Laredo," sweetly performed in the style of an old English folk song, is a special delight. - Exclaim!


"REUBEN AND THE DARK PROVIDE THE PULSE FOR THE ARTERY FRIDAY NIGHT"

The other reason I was in a good mood was the opening act F&M. F&M showed a wonderful versatility of sounds and it’s hard not to tread on what others have already said about the group. Becky has an incredibly unique voice and is far from afraid of performing in a way that is both classical and endlessly innovative. I especially appreciated their use of a squeeze box in a way that gave songs an intense yet broad sonic scope. - Sound + Noise


"F&M: Sincerely, F&M CD Review Editorial Rating: 4 out of 5"

Editorial Rating: 4 out of 5
by BY Alexandra Posadzki November 24, 2010

Rebecca and Ryan Anderson, the married couple at the heart of Edmonton orchestral folk-rock band F&M, are a perfect contrast. She’s classically trained, he’s a veteran of Edmonton’s indie scene. When juxtaposed together — alongside his guitar and her piano and accordion — they make a seamless blend, a yin-yang of playfulness and sorrow, of innocence and sin. Rebecca conjures Joni Mitchell in her ability to travel across several octaves, while Ryan’s voice is contemplative and full of rugged honesty. The duo demonstrates its maturity as songwriters with their third album, Sincerely, F&M, where they arrange the silence as well as the sound. The results are heartfelt and rich in meaning — even the disc’s surprising cover of “Maybe Tomorrow,” the theme song from The Littlest Hobo. - Eye Weekly (Toronto, ON)


"Critic's Picks"

Edmonton duo Rebecca and Ryan Anderson are a cutie-patootie couple with their folk-pop hearts in the right place. Their winsome new recording, Sincerely, F&M, comes with the most unusual of liner notes: Each song is paired with a wine suggestion. Take that, Metallica.
- The Times Colonist


"Weekend Concert Picks: F&M"

I've been a big fan of the band's litterate style for a number of years so, if like me, you sometimes like your pop with an adult message and some food for thought, this is definitely the place to be. Their new album, Sincerely, F&M, comes out in November. - The Vancouver Sun


"they want to be your grown-up dirty little secret band"

With the release of their fourth full-length album, Sincerely, Ryan and Rebecca Anderson, the Edmonton-based songwriters at the heart of F&M, have created a collection of songs that embrace the ambiguity and frustration of adult life, while still celebrating the inevitable and tragic beauty that comes with being a grown-up. And the entire affair is refreshingly irony-free, something of which the married couple is exceptionally proud.

“We're just at an age where it’s not scary to be authentic. It’s like, this is what we are and let’s just be the best that we can be. You don’t need to pander or put on any kind of pose,” says Rebecca, who goes by Becky, over speakerphone from the home she and Ryan share in Edmonton.

“We’re not stupid, we’re not going to be on the Top 40 radio stations anytime soon, but we don’t care as long as we can pay our bills and enjoy our time and hopefully make people enjoy our music and win them over,” adds Ryan.

Ryan and Becky technically met in high school, but it wasn’t until Ryan spent time skulking outside of her university classes and shadowing her at the library that a romance developed. Ryan admits it was a bit of light “stalking” but in the most romantic way. When he explains his infatuation with her at the time, Becky admits she was oblivious, and the couple still laughs when explaining how she brought her sister, cousin and friend to their first date.

“I’m just really slow when it comes to relationships,” says Becky. “I thought we were just friends.”

After years of playing in hobby bands both independently and together, the couple decided to try taking their shot at the brass ring and become a working, touring, recording band. Becky’s classical music training and Ryan’s grittier experiences in punk and rock ‘n’ roll bands seem as though they would clash, but the music of F&M is nuanced and precious in its earnestness. They have steadily built a following, though they claim much of their success is found abroad rather than at home, despite their recent victory as Edmonton’s Most Passionate Power Couple on CBC Go.

The couple has an easy and affable rapport, which is understandable after more than 12 years together. Ryan is the more verbose of the two and his jokes land easily and rapidly, often followed by Becky’s suppressed giggles. Though she is not nearly as vocal, Becky is equally charming and has a sardonic and self-aware sense of humour. Their conversations are much like their music: punctuated by moments where they are both in perfect harmony with each other and moments where they play off each other in surprising ways.
One of the highlights on Sincerely is “I Tripped, You Smiled,” a song that explores some of the more complicated aspects of marriage and includes the lyrics “I swear it’s not my fault and I’ll blame you anyway.” Ryan explains that the song is his way of showing that even within a happy marriage, there can be heartbreak amidst the romance — Becky is quick to agree.

“It’s a real commitment,” Becky agrees. “You wake up each day and you make that commitment again and again. It’s funny because I don’t really see that song as a struggle or a fight, but I could see that now.”

“It was for me,” Ryan is quick to respond with a laugh.

Such is the couple’s dynamic: they are witty and intelligent, realistic about life’s hardships, and not afraid to make fun of themselves or each other. Their music works because it examines themes that every adult faces in life and the depiction of the couple’s experiences comes off as authentic and haunting.

F&M are a band that won’t stay a secret for very long. - BeatRoute - Western Canada's Arts & Entertainment Magazine


"F&M Every Light Must Fade CD Review "F&M Flirt with Per-fection""

Rating 41/2 out of 5
F&M have just reminded us what finely crafted adult pop is all about -- not in the schmaltzy easy-listening radio sense, not in the big power notes and diva personalities of mainstream contemporary music, but in the thoughtful, emotional power of true musical storytelling. As the slightly darker logical extension (and conclusion) to 2007's Let Every Light Shine, their new
album resonates with coolness and class. Every Light Must Fade is like sipping fine wine, slowly evolving from start to finish. Moments range from amusing (the Calvin Johnson-meets-Bowie There Really is a Meaning to the Title of This Song) to reflective (the soft musings of Industrious) to bittersweet (the countrified, finger-picked Shrug It Off) to spacy and cerebral (Stars). Every Light Must Fade exists on a different plane of reality; one where polish overcomes brash noise, where folk-pop becomes ambience, and where F&M flirt with per-fection. F&M will elease their new album Friday at The Haven Social Club on Stony Plain Road.
François Marchand
November 8, 2008 - The Edmonton Journal


"New Music"

"A very new discovery for me which I would guess some of you may have already checked out after my Twitter post this afternoon about F&M. The hit me like a very gentle and sincere steam-train, but hit me they did.
F&M is a gently sardonic, dark and hopelessly clever art-folk band that began as a 48 hour experiment in recording during a fireworks festival. Delicate, glacial, heady, F&M approaches folk music with refreshing maturity and restraint. Music that breathes." - Suffolk 'n' Cool, UNITED KINGDOM


"Memorable Conclusion to Rose City Roots Music Season"

Lessons learned were laid bare as their mellow calm held us spellbound. Becky’s voice was easy to get lost in and I often forgot to listen to the words when she was singing. She made the accordion sensual, something these young ears had never heard before. Beautifully at ease, the trio awakened one’s inner sensibilities to introspection, beckoning all to a life of acceptance with the solid back-up of Bryan’s electric guitar. Ryan’s final words on stage were “thanks for your thoughts.” It’s safe to say the crowd returned his gratitude and soft waves of understanding.

May 2009 - Camrose Booster


"Little Miracle"

. . . And [F&M’s] musical soul is a must have. This becomes clear, when more pub visitors become listeners: ...people, unexpectedly from this music, are captured; it’s a small miracle. F & M with their extraordinarily lyrical way and language of such small miracles... And we begin to understand why . . . music can cause all other disturbing noises to fade out ... Because this evening is just one such little miracle.

Stefan Reis
Main-Echo, Germany, October 17, 2009
- Main Echo, Germany


Discography

At Sunset We Sing (November 2014)

An Evening In Moscow EP - Online Only  (April 2013)

Winter Is Coming: Songs of Winter and Christmas EP - Online Only (December 2011)

Wish You Were Here (August 30th 2011)

Sincerely, F&M (2010 Shameless)

Every Light Must Fade (2008 Shameless)

Let Every Light Shine (2007 Shameless)

F&M Christmas Notebook : This Gift Buys Our Gift EP (2006 Self-Released: F&M and Bryan Reichert)

Photos

Bio

Wine connoisseurs see a perfectly blended wine as an art form. F&M, a baroque-pop trio from Edmonton, Alberta, believes a blend is best – especially when it comes to music. The three-piece band consisting of singer-songwriters Rebecca and Ryan Anderson along with multi-instrumentalist / production virtuoso Bryan Reichert, mix their individual talents to create an amalgam of folk, rock, classical and pop that’s intermingled with influences stemming from multiple cross-continent tours, and a smattering of European adventures.

F&M’s signature sound — from the powerfully melodic folk-rock inaugural release of Let Every Light Shine (2007, Shameless Records), the complex and introspective Every Light Must Fade (2008, Shameless Records), Earshot #1 folk chart-topper, Sincerely, F&M (2010, Shameless Records) and the heart warming Wish You Were Here (2011, Shameless Records) — is a musical choice for the more refined. F&M’s emotive observations incorporate an international view that’s finely aged through an urban-Canadian perspective. This unique sound has been critically acknowledged by way of music placements, songwriting merits  (most recently 2015 Edmonton Music Prize shortlist nominee, 2015 Edmonton Music Award Best Alternative Album finalist)  and special invitations to perform in nontraditional or cross-genre spaces.

After a period of silence brought upon F&M by way of a broken hand, a broken leg, and falling victim to fraud (no really!), the trio mark their triumphant return with a release built from another blend — that of broken bones, broken promises, and broken hearts. At Sunset We Sing, is a joyful melancholy celebration of life. Melancholy is not defined by a feeling of sadness but of reverie and hope. F&M familiars will no doubt recognize Rebecca’s elegant musicianship and hypnotic voice. Ryan continues to gallantly spar with his guitar, but counters this battle with his expressive lyrical poetry and a distinctive croon. Bryan’s cinematic instrumental performances on guitar, mandolin and violin expertly finish F&M’s mature aromatic blend.

"Should be alternative stars- the Canadian duo of Rebecca and Ryan Anderson are writing passionate stories. Their past works also deserve recognition, but they are consistently great, and their lyrics are pure poetry." Famous Blue Raincoats, Greece

"... wowing audiences ... sounds that draw comparison to The National." Rocky Mountain Outlook

In person,F&M lack no reservations, physically and emotionally letting themselves escape into their very meaningful songs about love, sadness, and traveling the Canadian landscape.”Lithium Magazine

“F&M combined great musicianship with haunting, beautiful melodies, and a unique stage presence, making for a show that was soothing yet captivating. Following a talented band such as F&M is not easy task” Merge Magazine





Band Members