Cathedral Bloom

Late last summer, Victoria indie pop stalwarts Leisure Suit dropped their debut full-length album Easement, but not before quietly disbanding. While songwriter Oliver Brooks would stay in Victoria to work on other projects, Rowan Mackenzie, Andrew Taylor, and Zack Santella--the three other core members of the band--prepared to move thousands of kilometers away. The next time they would all be in Victoria together wouldn’t be until December 2015. Bummer, right?

Yes and no. For a band that isn’t certain it still exists, Leisure Suit has done a fantastic job of generating digital content and hype: they dropped two music videos in the second half of 2015; Brooks drafted a cast of supporting musicians to perform local shows in support of Easement.

Aiming to make the most of a holiday reunion, the original lineup of Leisure Suit performed at Upstairs Cabaret on December 27th alongside several of these supporting musicians. They brought two disparate and talented acts with them: electro R&B trip Cathedral Bloom and Cowichan Valley rock n roller’s Zuzu’s Petals.



Cathedral Bloom’s producer Dan Godolvitch (OKPK) was first onstage that evening, teasing the room into self-awareness. He was Later joined by emcee Harold Hejazi and vocalist Toni Hiatt. Their lyrically complex bars, and slow sonorous melodies wooed a small crowd into dancing. Reluctant table-leaners began to carry their beers down to the center of the room, or else made the move to get another.



Zuzu’s Petals brought on a completely different dynamic, driven by their frontman-swapping sensibility. Lead guitarist Louis Grove played jangly yet precise country-laiden lead riffs with ease, melding a brightness and precision into Nick Joy’s more frenetic style. Dante DeCaro (Wolf Parade, Hot Hot Heat, Johnny and the Moon) played support on the bass guitar. Aidan Thorne emerged from behind the drumset only twice to swap his sticks for guitar and microphone, but there was an energy in the room as he lead the band in performing Zuzu’s classic Smokin’ Weed. You could make out the band’s longtime supporters by the way they shouted along.



Leisure Suit had the pleasure of taking to the stage while the room was full, the evening’s libations already well underway. It quickly became apparent however, and especially as they played Easement singles Distraction and Bust Love, that this was a band determined to perform passionately and well. They had worked hard in the preceding weeks to make their live show worth waiting for, in rehearsals and in promotions. Their onstage presence boasted an earned synergy, capturing a sonic lushness similar to that of their recorded material without sacrificing the energy of live performance. Drummer Andrew Taylor and guest percussionist Adrian Heim performed as a tight unit of rhythm alongside Owen Hooper’s precise bass. Zack Santella and Rowan Mackenzie governed texture and melody with keyboards and guitar, even after Mackenzie crushed a finger on his left hand during load-in. Brooks’ vocals modulated between an understated mid-range and something more feathery and ominous.

With the wide spread of living situations of band members, every Leisure Suit show now has the potential to be their last. It could have been a performance undercut by nerves, or worse, resignation. But the band seems to have turned separation into a positive force. One can’t help but hope that they’ll find another excuse to do the whole thing again, and soon.

- Joseph Leroux - Holy Smokes Music

n the things-we’re-feeling-today department, we present CAthedrAls.

The Victoria, Canada-based trio (not to be confused with the San Francisco-based duo of the same name) released their self-titled EP last week. The six tracks are spare, Low End Theory-influenced IDM layered under the female singer’s smooth, steady voice and loads of shimmery guitar reminiscent of The xx. The hip hop influence alluded to in the beatmaking is expanded on with “Fortune Blessed,” which features rap vocals layered with singing. “Offering” is a slow-building, gorgeously layered standout with more spoken word lyricism.

While there is minimal information about the band available on the internet, (cAthedrAls! How do we find you? Holler at us.) the EP is altogether a very current sounding juxtaposition of styles and influences, most of them used here to best effect. This spacey debut is a strong statement from a band we’re eager to know more about. - Insomniac Editorial Team

cathedralbloom.bandcamp.com

cAthedrAls is a tripped out trio from Victoria, BC who have come together to combine three distinct ingredients to this sinuous concoction: voice, rhyme and eccentric beats.

There’s something about this recording that has me hooked. Even though it can sound a bit awkward at times cAthedrAls’ gurgling potion has an uncanny ability to invigorate the mind in the most soothing of ways.

A fascinating amalgamation of singer Antonia’s luscious and sublime vocalizations that interplay so well with MC Magicus Carpetus’ brooding rhymes. Underneath all this oral interplay producer OKPK lays down a thick spackling of electronic rhythm that for me brings to mind a cosmic gamelan conversing with a smoldering television set.

Rhythms intertwine and at times collide. Sonic textures burble and buzz, ring and hum as poetry effortlessly flows forth from the multilayered voices floating around the mix like lace scarves dancing in a river current.

There’s some obvious growing pains here for sure. MC Magicus Carpetus has a tone that feels a little too self conscious and in this setting it might serve him better to invest in a more emotive range rather than simply fixate too much on the cool deliveries.

I love producer OKPK’s bold experimentation with beats and sounds. It’s a sparse brooding throb sparkling with clinking metal, hissing steam, bouncing rubber balls and psychedelic electro noodles. Only rarely does his sonic caravan stray from the road, as with the track Vessels, where things tend to get a little clunky.

But those are just minor infractions that are part of the learning curve and Antonia’s strong and sumptuous vocals more than make up for the few rough edges here and there.

The three members of cAthedrAls offer up six engaging compositions that bring to mind medieval minstrel music for the new digital generation. A potent elixir for sure. - BC Musician Magazine

cAthedrAls’ magic lies somewhere on the axis of where witchcraft meets hip-hop. Their self-titled début EP offers six tracks of dark, though at times warm, spellbinding movements. Refreshingly, the EP is reminiscent of nothing we’ve heard come out of Fernwood, Victoria, BC.

If you’ve ever renovated a heritage house that was haunted you’ve felt how I feel when I listen to cAthedrAls. OKPK’s productions are ominous, somewhat weathered but built to last. Organic soundscapes veiled in thick synthetics provide a home for both vocalists. Antonia’s otherworldly voice hallows Vessels and Humility, while Offerings and Fortune Blessed are literally blessed by MC Magicus Carpetus. Conjuring and Backwards are also truly bewitching listens, both beat heavy and no less ethereal than the rest of the EP. cAthedrAls aims to “inspire sacredness and magic” in other’s lives. Captivating indeed, we say caveat audiens–let the listener beware. - VibeUps

To call ‘cAthedrAls’ hip-hop or grime or bassmusic or any other recognizable genre would be misleading because the trio of producer OKPK, singer Antonia and spoken-word artist MC Magicus Carpetus take these urban sounds and raise them to the heavens. The result is something new, something haunting with both delicate beauty and disturbing edge. In more clumsy hands, the pairing of Antonia’s ethereal, sweet singing with Carpetus’ worldly grit would result in an ungainly clash, but here there is harmony in the yin and the yang And the two get to play out their vocalizing over music of startling originality. OKPK creates dizzying landscapes of scratchy beats, art rock guitars, flowing rhythms and airy atmospherics. We hope this isn’t just a one-off, because cAthedrAls create a fascinating place that we want to spend more time in. - Ride The Tempo