Raveen

Montreal's Eric Séguin is the lead singer of the three-piece electronic band Raveen. We brought him to a plant store to perform a stripped down version of his song 'To The Bone.'

Eric Séguin chante dans le groupe Raveen, en plus de collaborer à divers projets électro et pop. Il interprète « To The Bone », une chanson qu'il a écrite en 2014 après la mort violente d'un ami. - VICE Canada

When Wong Kar-Wai and experimental orchestral rock combine, the results are good.

Phil Witmer - Jul 18 2017, 9:30am
When you have strings in your music, the visuals have to match the opulent textures you've just introduced. Experimental Montreal art-rockers Raveen are keenly aware of this, which is why they've chosen an abstract direction in interpreting their similarly abstract song "Always." Looking for all the world like some Tree of Life shit, but far less pretentious, the shots of aquariums and jungles match the song's stately drift, especially when that imperceptibly clutch key change partway through hits. You never thought convenience stores could look this cool.

"After bonding around the latest from PC Music and On Cinema, [director] Max introduced me to Wong Kar-wai and then his vision for the video - I was hooked on both," Raveen vocalist Eric Seguin told Noisey, "We struggled most with that fine balance between overt and covert narrative, but I think the result is a story you can sense more than one you can tell." Check out the video for "Always" above and pre-order the band's album of the same name here. - Noisey

Albums that make my year-end list have extra sticking power, and I feel like I’m dazzled anew every time I revisit Always. It feels so effortlessly smooth and powerful when it obviously took a while to get everything where it needed to be. The Radiohead vibes of this album’s instrumentation already drew me in, but combine that with wonderfully devastating lyrics of Eric Seguin and you’ve got an album that’s emotionally human and instrumentally supernatural. – MT - Grayowl Point

C’est Raveen qui a réellement commencé la soirée pour moi avec leur pop tantôt minimaliste, tantôt complexe et planante. Leur musique est aussi bien composée qu’elle était jouée, par trois excellents musiciens – un batteur, un bassiste/claviériste et un chanteur/claviériste – comme transportés par une seule et même énergie. On a eu droit à de belles nuances et une très belle recherche sonore et technique, et ce surtout de la part du bassiste. Son instrument perdait ses origines dans les effets, jouant sporadiquement le rôle d’un synthétiseur ou d’une guitare, et il ne suffisait de l’entendre jouer que quelques secondes pour comprendre qu’il savait ce qu’il faisait. L’excellence de la performance allait de pair avec une composition originale et évolutive, tirant parfois sur le progressif, et ladite paire donnait un tout original et continuellement intéressant. On nageait entre des moments plus free, des harmonisations digitales à la Bon Iver et des mélodies à la Half Moon Run tout en restant très loin de l’incohérence. L’aisance scénique des musiciens dès le début du concert ne laissait planer aucun doute sur leur professionnalisme, et de fait, aucune déception de ce côté non plus. À chaque pièce, j’en aurais pris facilement deux fois plus. - Canal Auditif

Always, par Raveen
S’il y a une formation locale qui ne fait pas assez jaser ces temps-ci, c’est bien Raveen. Le discret trio montréalais composé d’Éric Séguin (chant), de Stokely Diamantis (basse) et de Peter Colantonio (batterie) lançait, il y a quelques semaines, son album Always. Dès la première écoute, on remarque la voix haut perchée du chanteur, qui nous fait tourbillonner jusqu’à en donner le vertige. Facile de tomber peu à peu sous le charme des intrigants paysages sonores mettant en valeur les diverses couches et textures électroacoustiques produites par le groupe. Des arrangements orchestraux imposants, l’ajout d’une chorale sur certains refrains et une aisance à piger dans différents styles musicaux (R&B, jazz ou encore pop) d’une pièce à l’autre tout en réussissant à conserver une belle homogénéité, et le tour est joué. Une découverte qui vaut le coup. - Phi Centre

"There’s nothing quite as emotionally soothing and devastating as this album right now."

There’s something remarkably human about Raveen’s debut album, despite the intensely dreamlike atmosphere the trio treads. Call it pop, R&B, experimental, whatever you want, but at the end of the day, Raveen have tapped into some kind of collective unconscious with Always.

From the moment the dreamlike piano begins the album with the title track to the string-filled finale of “Begin,” Raveen glide effortlessly between hook-filled choruses and more experimental breaks in the music, and both feel like equally valid parts of the band’s identity. Always is reminiscent of Radiohead’s In Rainbows in its complexity (and I don’t make this comparison lightly; that album changed my goddamn life) and calls to human nature.

I won’t stay on this Radiohead comparison too long, but you can hear in “Always” the same kind of steadfast love evident in In Rainbow‘s “All I Need.” Though the beautiful piano and chorus of voices make Raveen’s song more angelic, by the end of the song Eric Seguin is making clear the same kind of commitment Thom Yorke sings about.

Radiohead similarities aside, each song is its own puzzle box unlocked over multiple listens. The complex arrangements are a treat right off the bat, but active listening will help you absorb the sonic richness and Seguin’s cryptic lyrics. “What You’re Looking For,” one of the album’s best songs, begins subtly and perhaps even angrily in its sound and lyrical content. But as the song moves on, the chorus becomes richer with swells of synths as Seguin sings “You called out the old ones.” Is there a touch of magic?

Speaking of choruses, “400 Years” also has a catchy one. The jazzy song about waiting really turns up the anguish in the chorus, and the song eventually morphs into something new by the end. The sloshing water sounds in the background brings to mind the image of someone standing alone on an island and singing into the ocean. “How Does It Feel” is even more pointed. With a gorgeous blend of keys, bass and drums backing him, Seguin tears himself apart lyrically before singing the most venomous two lines of the album: “How does it feel to be right all the time?” There’s a pause, and then he adds, quieter in contrast, “Must be nice.”

Though these complex songs are thrilling, Raveen also show they’ve got a lot of power in simpler numbers. “To the Bone” is rich in imagery and doesn’t need a lot of instruments to back up the sentiment; a sustained note on the keys is only heard at first, before the five-piece string section comes in later. It’s short and sweet and just as effective.

There’s nothing quite as emotionally soothing and devastating as this album right now. - Grayowl Point

Raveen, a three-piece electronic band from Montreal, is shifting their tone for their debut album. Their previous releases consist of treatment-drenched vocals laid over quirky house beats, but "Always" is the first single and title track off of their debut album of the same name, and it will no doubt be considered an intense departure from the previous singles. The first few notes are enough to understand that this sound is going to be purer; more raw emotion and less production. Although interestingly enough, it isn't the lyrics that purvey that deep emotion – it's the expansive soundscape created by Raveen's talented lyricist Eric Seguin and the rest of the band, who all take part in production. With "Always," Raveen have succeeded in creating a highly introspective track with an almost folk sound while maintaining the complexity of the programming and electronica available on their previous releases. Raveen worked with more than ten vocalists and five string players to create the haunting melody and arrive at this sophisticated debut full of thoughtfulness and pleasantly surprising tone shifts. Catch Always as the full LP, out on July 28th.
Read more at https://earmilk.com/2017/07/10/raveen-arrive-with-latest-single-always/#XhThGH27TACkfIy5.99 - Earmilk

Why do we like this?
Montreal's three-piece RAVEEN use simple elements to make for a sublime listening experience.

The first and title track off their upcoming debut release on July 28th, "Always," includes an ambient haze of vocals, bass, drums, synths and strings. It teases at what is to come, trailing off with strings that sound like Cigarettes After Sex and synths that remind me of Radiohead. - Indie Shuffle

Charted at #38,
7+ Blogs aggregated here. - Hype Machine

If you were to simply take ‘Always’ as an R&B-flavoured contemporary pop album then it may well rank as one of the finest of that ilk this year. However, Raveen are more in the mould of musical pioneers, and if anything their melodic choruses are incidental to their intricate compositions.

As you listen to the earworm-worthy refrain of “How Does It Feel” in all its confectionary goodness you may consider me crazy (don’t worry, you’re not alone). But you’d be glossing over the fact that the track is brimming with detail, such as the Radiohead-style bass-line and the meandering guitar work. Then the song enters a more freeform, jazz-imbued, verse and you know this is not radio territory. The deal is sealed when the track goes entirely off-rails at around the 4-minute mark and the song is released from all strictures.

And, frankly, “How Does It Feel” is about as conventional as this trio gets. Things remain eminently listenable though, thanks mostly to Eric Seguin’s drop-dead gorgeous voice (which at times resembles that of Antony, know better known as Anohni). The songs, at their heart, also remain solidly in a 2017 cultural place. There may be embellishments from a full string accompaniment and a female backing choir, but ‘Always’ never even comes close to collapsing under the weight of pomposity. Raveen may follow in the footsteps of the ‘70s prog giants in their approach and their song structures, but they never fall into those traps of self-indulgence. As an example, the title track has ethereal strings and a heavenly female vocal backing, and yet Sequin manages to keep things anchored with his more earthly voice.

Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Raveen’s music is their willingness to incorporate almost any style into their compositions. So you get ’90s alternative seeping into “What You Are Looking For”, soaring synth pop on “Begin”, country pedal steel on “Almost Nothing”. Plus there are elements of trip-hop and glitch throughout. This may sound absurd, but in a sense they are like the Pink Floyd of the new millennium, but instead of using rock-folk and psychedelia as the starting-off point Raveen uses the very familiar strains of modern urban pop. - Ride The Tempo

Montreal band Raveen, are premiering their new single and title-track off their debut forthcoming release Always. The band Draws from a diverse influence of sounds, including Pop, Jazz, R&B, Electroacoustic and Electronica. The trio is comprised of vocalist/producer Eric Seguin, bassist/producer Stokely Diamantis and drummer Peter Colantonio.

“Always” finds the band working with an expansive sound and scope. Vocals revolve around beds ambience, like a warm blanket of sonic textures. Raveen is a band situated at the crossroads of acoustic and electronic music traditions, with emotional and organic songwriting augmented by modern production and sound design.

Always will be released on July 28th via So Sorry Records. The record marks their foray into more subdued, lush songwriting and a grandiose approach to arrangement with orchestral strings, choir work and field recording adding depth to the trio’s core palette of keys/bass/drums/electronics. - Northern Transmissions

The melancholy voice of singer-songwriter Eric Séguin captivates and comforts. The Montreal adoptee is the lead singer of Raveen and a collaborator on hip-hop and electronic music projects. He met us to talk about creativity, being there for friends and how a personal loss reminds of why we need to care about mental health.

La voix de l'auteur-compositeur-interprète Eric Séguin envoûte et réconforte. Le Montréalais d'adoption chante dans le groupe Raveen, en plus de collaborer à divers projets hip-hop et électro, comme THe LYONZ, avec qui il s'est produit au Festival de Jazz de Montréal l'été dernier. L'artiste à la voix mélancolique nous a donné rendez-vous dans une boutique de plantes pour discuter de création et de santé mentale. - VICE Quebec

Montreal electro trio Raveen release their new album Always next week, but Exclaim! is giving you the chance to hear the record in its entirety right now.

The dreamy nine-song set was primarily written over the course of the past year — one the band describes as "a tumultuous year of ups and down."

The recording itself began at James Benjamin's country house in Magog, QC, and was finished at Breakglass Studios in Montreal. "Many espresso-fuelled sessions later, we emerged with a fully formed record," the band tell Exclaim! "Our ears were tired, but we felt redeemed. It's our best work to date and we're very excited to share it."

Raveen add, "The lyrics cover stories of loss and repair. They weave between scenes from reality to images from the world we paint within. But really they're all just love songs."

Fall under the spell of Raveen's latest album by streaming Always below. It's officially out on July 28 via So Sorry Records, and you can pre-order a copy here. - Exclaim!

Musitechnic reached out to some of the movers and shakers in the Montreal music scene and asked them to give us their 5 current fav Montreal music-makers. Montreal has long been a driving force in the music industry by pumping out bands that have taken the world by storm.
Montreal bands have been moulded by the unique cultural environment and offer a refreshing alternative to the standard smorgasbord with something for all tastes.



les Deuxluxes

Due to the relatively low cost of living, reasonable rents and industry infrastructure it is possible to start a project here in Montreal and get it out on the road throughout Canada, the US and Europe.
Here is your chance to find some pretty cool new Montreal sounds. Do yourself a favour and buy a song/album or two from these lists.
Support your local music scene because if you don’t who will?
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Thanya Iyer

Josh Spencer– Kickdrum : Raveen – Thanya Iyer – Common Holly – Look Vibrant – Bodywash
Eric Cazes – Pop Mtl : un blonde – Les Marinelli – – Safia Nolin – Laura Sauvage
Patrice Caron – MusiqueIndependante: jesuslesfilles – tu/lips – L’amalgame – Fouki – Despised Icon
Jon Weisz – Indie Montreal: Charlotte Cardin – La Famille Ouellette – Raveen – Lakes of Canada – Kroy
and on a personal note here are my current favs

Iain Booth: Holy Data – Poni – Thanya Iver – Ada Lea – les Deuxluxes - Musitechnic

A radio interview with Nick Schofield on his legendary show Underground Sounds - discussing the 'Always' LP and the process and themes behind it. - CKUT Underground Sounds

Raveen shared the meditative Max Taeuschel video for title track "Always" found off the upcoming album of the same name available July 28 from So Sorry Records. Gorgeous garden menageries & a host of natural settings will spirit you away out of your situation & toward ethereal realms that words themselves cannot relay properly. - Impose Magazine

Montreal electronic trio Raveen is out with a new album Friday, and the band was kind enough to take the time to answer some of our questions. The album, Always, was teased with a single of the same name–a lush and melancholy track backed by a string quartet and gorgeous female vocals. Reminiscent of the heart-felt music created by trip hop act Alpha, Always finds the band stepping away from the trappy beats of the past and into lavish melodies and pristine production, with introspective themes of love and grief. Give the single a listen right here, then jump to our questions, as the Raveen’s Eric Seguin touches on their inspiration, production, and travel plans.

Thanks for taking our questions! Your new single, while not quite a departure from your earlier work, feels richer and a tad bit more vulnerable. The vocals really shine. Can you tell us a little bit about your new direction?

Thanks for noticing. We certainly feel the same way.

This record is the result of us pushing ourselves artistically and musically beyond our old comfort zones, and we hope it shows how we’ve grown over the years as producers, listeners, and artists. Where once we drew from more contemporary influences, for this record we reached back to more classic examples of vocal-driven records that were meant to be listened to as a cohesive whole, including but not limited to earlier R&B and the pop albums that we grew up on.

The direction itself isn’t an entirely nostalgic one necessarily. You can hear us drawing still from modern hip-hop production, contemporary indie, and electronic influences, but at its core it is the latest in a trajectory in which we’re constantly striving to be as true as possible to who we are as both a group and as individuals. To do so it was necessary to go back to what drove us to make music in the first place, which was at least partially the album format and the artistry that can come from that structure. Perhaps that’s the vulnerability you’re hearing–an attempt to go deeper!


Who did backup vocals? Will you be working with them in the future?

Our friends Kate, Alexis, Sara, and Morgan were primarily responsible for the backing vocals on Always. They’re all amazing vocalists with personal projects and careers of their own so if we can ever get them all in the same place again, we’ll be very blessed and grateful.

Were I to guess, I’d say that you’ve been digging into the crates and listening to some old trip hop. Alpha comes to mind. Who have you been listening to?

In terms of trip-hop, you’re right. Maybe not Alpha so much, but early Portishead and late Massive Attack were heavily in rotation while we were crafting the sounds that would appear on the record. Additionally, we’ve worked in the past with our friend Joel Garden who continues to inspire us with his trip-hop laced beat tapes and electro-acoustic driven sound design.

Otherwise, we listened to a really diverse array of music while making this record. I even made a little spotify playlist to give an impression of where I was at taste-wise at the time.

Is this single a taste of things to come in a new full-length?

The single is from our first full length and will be released July 28th via So Sorry Records (some of the loveliest souls under the sun).

You have a tour coming up and you’re hitting a lot of Canadian spots. Any chance you’ll be visiting the States anytime soon?

It’s true, we’re staying close to home this time. But we have every intention of coming stateside as soon as we can, hopefully for a festival of some kind. So much of America is gorgeous and it’s Stokely’s (one third of Raveen) homeland so it’s a big goal for us to get down there ASAP.

Find Raveen on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, then buy the album on Bandcamp: - Noise Journal

Montreal three-piece Raveen are almost set to unveil a brand new single, but before they do, Exclaim! has got the exclusive premiere of the A-side "Accidents."

The band pride themselves on incorporating an eclectic array of influences into their experimental sound, citing everyone from Kanye West to Dave Brubeck to Caribou as inspiration. The trio's latest offering hears the band blending electronic music with live instrumentation, opening with an echoing, burbling beat that gets topped with precise, peppy percussion, mesmerizing synths and hazy vocals.

"The song is the first we wrote as a true three-piece since Peter joined us in 2014, so it's very dear to us," the band tells Exclaim! "It's an homage to Nina Simone and Vangelis about the importance of speaking your mind when it matters most."

The new single follows up the band's 2014 debut EP and it will be given a release party on February 24 in Montreal. Get a head start on the new material by giving "Accidents" a listen right now in the player below. - Exclaim!

RAVEEN is a three-piece Montreal-based band whose music tastefully straddles the line between synthy electronica and live instrumentation. Described as “dark, yet earnest pop-electronic music with some serious R&B undertones,” their dynamic sound is tied together by crisp vocals and a lush, immersive production style. Graphite’s Thaïs Martin got in touch with members Eric Seguin, Stokely Diamantis, and Peter Colantonio to learn more about what inspires the trio’s creative approach and drives their rising success...

Click the link above, for the full article. - Graphite Publications

“… speaking your mind when it matters most” is how Montreal locals Raveen described their latest single, “Accidents,” to Exclaim! in February of this year.

If you dug Bonobo’s First Fires, or anything Tycho ever did, you are definitely going to want to check out what Raveen is releasing now:

Electronica voices blend in aching harmonies, soaring above beautiful beats. Live instrumentation crosshatched with digital landscapes, Raveen cites influences as far flung as jazz master Dave Brubeck to hip hop court jester, the ever bewildering Kanye West.

Sometimes when bands are forced to describe their sound, they come up with deluded, whimsical, vague, and misleading adjectives: Senior Citizen Sludge, Dollarama Soul, Wizard Folk, Sewage Blues… and so forth. Raveen thankfully had the good sense to proclaim that they make “dark, yet earnest pop-electronic music with some serious R&B undertones.” From what I’ve heard of this dreamy 3-piece, yes, they’re dark (not dark in a vampires-and-castles kind of way, but more in a shadowy-nighttime kind of way), yes, they seem earnest, and yes, there are some serious R&B tones in there.

After a year of hard work, following their release, Softly to Air in September 2014, and a 3-track self-titled EP, Raveen has gone on to hit up New York City’s CMJ Festival (being one of five local bands that made the exodus). They have played KickDrum’s winter fest, and threw an epic release party for their single “Accidents” at Casa Del Popolo on February 24th

But fear not dear brothers in music, you do not need to suffer from a crippling bout of FOMO. Raveen will be at Quai des Brumes on March 31st, and so will you.

Living in Montreal is like Christmas morning every day. The music here is always a gift. - Bandmark

Raveen is an electronic soul-pop act from Montréal founded by producer/keyboardist/vocalist Eric Seguin, bassist/producer Stokely Diamantis and drummer Peter Colantonio. They quietly came onstage in the cozy upstairs room of MTELUS accompanied by a 2 piece string section and after a soft hello, launched into a set of their sweet and melancholic songs. Seguin’s voice falls somewhere between Paul Young and José González, lilting and gliding, but emotive and evocative. The music of Raveen is gentle and decidedly guitar-free. There are moments of ambient drums and keyboards and ethereal vocals before it all slips back into a song with a pop foundation. Seguin was a shy banterist but focused behind the mic. - We Are Addicted

CJLO is pleased to team up with Kickdrum to co-present Raveen with Ivory Hours, St. Lawrence Warehouse Company, and Men & Company at Reggie's Bar (1455 de Maisonneuve O.) this Saturday, April 2nd.

Tune into Champions of the Local Scene this Wednesday (Tomorrow) at 6pm to go behind the scenes with Raveen and hear some of their new music. Raveen played CMJ Music Festival in NYC this past fall, and recently released a new single "Accidents". Raveen describe's their music as “dark, yet earnest pop-electronic music with some serious R&B undertones.” Take a listen for yourself tomorrow at 6pm and hear what's next for Kickdrum this Spring! - CJLO 1690AM

Nouveau Palais serves a killer $7 breakfast right up until 3pm. I know this because I got to interview Eric Séguin, lead singer of Raveen, over coffee and home fries at the band’s favourite haunt just a few weeks ago.

Described as “dark, yet earnest pop-electronic with some serious R&B undertones”, Raveen’s tunes are unlike anything you’ve heard before. The band is named after an impossibilist that used to tour Eastern Canada. With what I can see as an emphasis on the “earnest”, Montreal based Raveen released their self-titled breakout EP in February 2014, followed by their AB side “Softly to Air” later that year.

On February 24, Eric and his bandmates Peter Colantonio on drums and bass player Stokely Diamantis released another AB side – “Accidents/Closer”.

“Accidents” talks about speaking up when it is important. Eric’s voice is brilliant. The song is crafted so beautifully. I’ll warn you, I really have no idea how Stokely creates all of the layers of sound that roll in and out throughout the tune but it’s awesome. And Eric sounds like a robot with crazy gorgeous voice at the beginning of the song. Rad.

“Closer” acts as a good B side to the catchier accompanying track. Eric describes it as “a bit of an assault”. It is the kind of song you can listen to ten times and still find another element within it you didn’t recognize before.

Eric started singing in the 7th grade when the vocalist of his band at the time couldn’t make a performance. He studied electro-acoustics at Concordia (I know, only the coolest degree that exists) and became friends with Stokely while they were 20 year old students in Montreal. Stokely has a background in electronic music and grew up in the woods of Vermont. Pete specialized in jazz drums at McGill and became connected to Eric and Stokely when he decided to explore other genres after his degree.

Raveen played their first international show earlier this year at the CMJ Festival in New York to a packed audience after being included on the festival’s must-see list of bands. The listeners in NYC loved them, just like the listeners who crammed into Casa de Popolo to celebrate their AB’s release (and Stokely’s birthday of course).

THe LYONZ, a Montreal based hip hop duo (that you also must check out) opened for Raveen at their release. In front of projected visuals created by Eric’s partner Alex Robichaud, the band expertly played a set of tunes filled with variety. Looking back on notes I took, words like psychedelic, haunting, groovy, and thundering came to mind as I stood in the crowd. Stoically handled all those layers of sound from his laptop on stage, while also playing the bass. When they played “Closer” I wrote down “hit me in the sternum”. It was awesome.

When I asked Eric over our exceptionally late breakfast whether to not he still gets nervous performing, he told me nowadays he can convert that energy into excitement. Instead, he feels grateful.

“In my early 20s I didn’t really know what I was singing about, I just sang about what felt personal to me. Now when I go out there I know how my personal experiences should translate to the personal experiences of others. I want that to be universal. That job doesn’t feel like work. You don’t go out there thinking “I’m just slogging away”. You’re thinking “thank god I get to do this and share this with other people”.

You can catch Raveen @ Quai des Brumes on March 31st!

https://raveen.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/thatssoraveen - The Tab

Jessica Romera interviewed Eric for the newspaper before the deput EP release. - Concordian

featured on LANDR's kaleidoscope mixtape - LANDR

featured as willowwoods' song of the evening July 22nd 2015 -