Surface of Atlantic

considering 2007 brought us the year of "the teenager that only listens to ambient post rock, has no sense of humor, and pretends they've been a radiohead fan since before they were born", i'm really surprised surface of atlantic aren't getting a lot more love.

well, here's to the start of what's hopefully a storm of hype for these dudes.

hailing from montreal, soa have blended sounds from bands that almost sound similar, but are quite different in many areas (ie mogwai, radiohead, sigur ros, the velvet teen, travis). there's also a certain accessibility that's often missing in acts like these. moments of almost dancable pop charm randomly show themselves amongst lush arrangements and rich instrumentation. there's a familiarity to the vocals, but it's definitely a strong voice that holds it's own.

given the chance, i think these guys could really become something special to music. and with an album due out this year, make this your chance to say you were in the know all along.

Website: http://weworemasks.blogspot.com/2008/02/surface-of-atlantic-ephemeral-as-we.html - We wore masks blog

Considering 2007 brought us the year of "the teenager that only listens to ambient post rock, has no sense of humor, and pretends they've been a radiohead fan since before they were born", i'm really surprised surface of atlantic aren't getting a lot more love.

well, here's to the start of what's hopefully a storm of hype for these dudes.

hailing from montreal, soa have blended sounds from bands that almost sound similar, but are quite different in many areas (ie mogwai, radiohead, sigur ros, the velvet teen, travis). there's also a certain accessibility that's often missing in acts like these. moments of almost dancable pop charm randomly show themselves amongst lush arrangements and rich instrumentation. there's a familiarity to the vocals, but it's definitely a strong voice that holds it's own.

given the chance, i think these guys could really become something special to music. and with an album due out this year, make this your chance to say you were in the know all along. - we wore masks

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to go with a band that kicked it up a notch, put me in a good mood, and lit a fire in the pit of my stomach. This week, I’ll take it down a notch and give you a band that’s pretty much the calm after the storm.
Picture this: it’s summer time and it’s pouring outside, you come home from a rough day, go to your room, crack open the window so you can hear the rain, lay on your bed and press play on your stereo.
What would be the perfect band to accompany this total disconnection from the world? Surface of Atlantic. Made up of Dave Douville, François Graham, Marco Gervais, Marc-André Landry, and François
Chabot, this five-piece Montreal band are the definition of experimental indie. They have a soothing sound you can get lost in within the first 30 seconds of any song. The best comparison I could think of would be Explosions in the Sky, but with vocals. Their creativity is amazing and you can really feel the song in your body. It makes you get lost in your thoughts and wonder off into a completely different world.

Aside from releasing their first album in 2007, Ephemeral as we Speak, and the 2010 follow up album, A Frame Per Season, the band is pretty low key. They haven’t released any information on writing another album or even touring. They keep mostly to themselves. But hey, that’s fine with me for now, because I still can’t stop spinning their two previous albums. It’s like listening to a new version of the album every time. With each listen, you discover more and more things the band tries to do with their songs. They are one of the more creative bands I’ve listened to in a long time. If you have some free time today and you’re looking to get away from the real world for a bit, give these guys a listen.

You’re welcome.

Discography:

Full length album, Ephemeral as we Speak, 2007

Full length album, A Frame Per Season, 2010 - Bloody Underrated

SURFACE OF ATLANTIC

Mon coup de coeur de la soirée. Le groupe, avec sa musique à mi-chemin entre le post-rock et la musique symphonique, a offert une performance réglée au quart de tour, avec projections, un quatuor à cordes et un trio de cuivres. Malheureusement, mes photos ne sont pas assez jolies pour vous montrer l’ampleur de leur performance, donc je vais m’abstenir de vous les inclure dans le billet. Je suis sortie de la Sala Rossa avec une copie de leur dernier opus, intitulé A Frame Per Season. Je leur prédis certainement une carrière du tonnerre - voir / bang bang

French philosopher Blaise Pascal once noted that, “beauty is a harmonious relation between something in our nature and the quality of the object which delights us”. So if monsieur Pascal is to be believed, Surface of Atlantic's delightful second record 'A Frame Per Season' is indeed a work of beauty.

Formed in Montreal in 2005 through various musical projects, Surface of Atlantic have for the last number of years been building a loyal following in Canada with their unique live shows which consist of ten musicians accompanied by projections of abstract and dreamy visuals. 'A Frame Per Season' is the bands follow up to their 2006 debut 'Ephemeral as We Speak' and shows a band progressing and maturing at an astonishing rate.
With echo’s of early Sigur Ros, opener 'No Sleep, Walk' blends silky strings and a marching drumbeat in glorious fashion as the listener is swept up on this musical adventure. The bands influences of jazz and old French pop are all touched upon in 'A Frame Per Season' and no more so than with 'Bonjour Tristesse', which would not be out of place in an old Luis Bunuel or Francois Truffaut film. The group have had four of their songs featured in Xavier Dolans award winning picture 'Jai tue ma Mere' and the cinematic ambiance is continued with the sparsely, gorgeous 'Sea and All Emerald Suns'. Live favourite 'Great White' is probably Surface of Atlantic's most accomplished piece of work to date. The simplicity of the piano and violins blended with singer Dave Douvilles voice is masterfully brought together and would surely be a highlight on any bands record.

'A Frame Per Season' is a beautifully crafted, flowing record and certainly gives the impression that Surface of Atlantic didn’t suffer that tired old rock n roll cliché of the difficult second album. The bad news for us this side of the Atlantic, however, is the band has unfortunately no live dates scheduled over here this year, so we will not be able to hear the transition of this outstanding record to the stage. - Stereolab Uk / Ireland

Every so often I find myself flipping through CDs in a jaded attempt to fins something, anything, with a little authenticity, originality or…well, something that doesn’t suck. It can be a tough job, actually. If only there were more bands like Surface of Atlantic, who really spoke out to me through the filter-less din of internet music. With softly uttered vocals, droning guitar repetition, swelling keyboards and minimalist electronica underpinning the unassumingly beautiful songs, Surface of Atlantic can easily knock the copy of Coldplay’s Parachutes or Death Cab’s Transatlanticism out of any sweater-wearing dorm rat’s CD changer. The aesthetic is decidedly mellow, but this is not to say the music lacks the right amount of rhythm to push it along at a simmering mid-tempo. Tracing the musical genealogy of this Montreal quintet back, you might find albums by Slowdive, Sigur Ros, Postal Service or The Poor Rich Ones populating their catalogs. This is truly noteworthy, and we suggest you stop what you’re doing and look into this majestic stuff.

Their latest LP, Ephemeral as we Speak, is available now.

Buy it on iTunes here.

Check out Surface of Atlantic’s really well put together Official Web Site for more up to the minute details (or, you know, look at their MySpace….)

Instrumentation
Dave Douville: vox+guit
Marco Gervais: guitar
Martin Poisson: bass
Francois Graham: Piano/keys
Fred Bujo : Drums

Discography
Ephemeral as we Speak LP - 2007
Fairmount Avenue EP - 2006
- Synthesis Magazine

Après plusieurs mois d'attente, Ephemeral As We Speak de Surface of Atlantic (autrefois Surface) se retrouve enfin sur les tablettes. Car il faut le dire, cet album n'a pas profité d'un parcours simple. Mille et une embûches ont retardé sa sortie. "Les délais ont été très longs, amorce Dave Douville, chanteur de la formation. On a reçu les masters à la fin janvier. Il y a eu des retards et des erreurs d'impression... plein de petits détails qui ont été hors de notre contrôle..." Heureusement, les cinq membres du groupe (François Graham, Frédéric Bujo, Matthieu Beaumont de Tricot Machine, Marco Gervais et lui-même) n'étaient pas trop pressés.
Si Ephemeral As We Speak nage dans des atmosphères similaires à celles de groupes comme Sigur Rós ou Patrick Watson, c'est qu'il a été composé tout en douceur au piano et à la guitare acoustique dans un petit quatre et demi à Montréal, un lieu où il était impossible de faire trop de bruit. "Avant, on essayait de faire un peu de rock. Mais on sentait qu'on s'en allait vers quelque chose de smooth, d'assez ambiant. Bien que ça bouge des fois quand même, je pense que la force, que toute l'identité du band s'exprime quand c'est smooth", commente-t-il avant d'ajouter que leurs chansons entretiennent quelques liens de parenté avec la musique de film et ses images. D'ailleurs, le disque se veut très abstrait. "C'est très cinématographique. Il n'y a pas de textes précis ni de messages clairs. On
reste vraiment dans les ambiances. Les paroles reflètent des images, des situations, des feelings, des états d'âme."

Et les projets? "On n'a pas établi de plan de carrière. On ne se voit pas dans six mois comme si on devait avoir vendu 1 million d'albums ou 1000. On y va vraiment au jour le jour".

Surface of Atlantic
Ephemeral As We Speak
(Indépendant)

À écouter si vous aimez
Patrick Watson
Coldplay
Radiohead

- Voir - Montreal

Un esprit de douceur surgit et nous envahit à l’écoute de Surface of Atlantic, formation montréalaise qui vient de lancer son premier album complet, Ephemeral As We Speak.
Pour vous situer immédiatement sur le style musical de ce jeune groupe, disons qu’on pourrait le qualifier de version québécoise de Coldplay.

Tant la voix de Dave Douville que les arrangements et mélodies semblent s’inspirer directement du groupe anglais.

Outre le chant plaintif de Douville, qui s’assure également des portions de guitare avec Marco Gervais, Surface of Atlantic compte sur l’apport du pianiste et claviériste François Graham, du batteur Frédéric Bujo et du bassiste Matthieu Beaumont.

Ne vous étonnez pas de la familiarité de ce nom: ce dernier fait également partie du sympathique duo Tricot Machine en compagnie de sa conjointe, Catherine Leduc.

Mais pour ce dernier projet, il a troqué son clavier au profit d’une basse, qu’il manipule plutôt sobrement, à l’instar des partitions de guitare qui se trouvent plus souvent qu’autrement accompagnatrices des mélodies menées par le piano.

Fairmount Avenue

Ephemeral As We Speak, qui compte dix compositions originales, représente ainsi la première oeuvre complète du quintette, mais cela ne signifie pas pour autant qu’il en est à ses premières armes.

En 2005, il nous avait effectivement offert le EP Fairmont Avenue, ce qui lui avait permis de se tailler une place sur la scène locale et de s’allier d’un bon bassin de fans.

Un an plus tard, le groupe entrait en studio, avec l’apport de Francis Perron à la réalisation, pour produire cet opus nouvellement arrivé sous l’étiquette Metropole Records.

Reste maintenant à Surface of Atlantic de transposer l’esprit planant de cet enregistrement sur scène, ce qu’il aura la chance de faire le 5 juillet, à la Sala Rossa.




Surface of Atlantic
Année de formation: 2004

Origine: Montréal

Membres: Dave Douville (voix et guitare), Frédéric Bujo (batterie), François Graham (piano et claviers),Matthieu Beaumont (basse) et Marco Gervais (guitare)

Style: Rock ambiant

Influences: Sigur Ros, Wilco, Brian Eno

Album: Ephemeral As We Speak (2007)

Prochain spectacle: Le jeudi 5 juillet à La Sala Rossa

Site Internet: www.surfaceofatlantic.com
- Journal de Montreal

(Trois-Rivières) Presque tout a déjà été dit sur le film J'ai tué ma mère, que le jeune cinéaste Xavier Dolan a présenté à Cannes, séduisant juges, critiques et publics. Un détail peut-être moins connu? La formation Surface of Atlantic, aux racines trifluviennes, a contribué au succès de la production en lui prêtant quatre chansons.

D'abord connu sous le nom de Surface, le groupe devenu Surface of Atlantic est formé des Trifluviens Dave Douville aux voix et à la guitare et Martin Poisson à la basse, ainsi que du claviériste François Graham, du batteur François Chabot et du guitariste Marco Gervais.

Cette section rythmique plus «traditionnelle» est complétée par un quatuor de cordes composé des Trifluviennes Camille Hudon, Camille Paquette-Roy, Edith Fitzgerald et Sarah Martineau. Le groupe a lancé un premier album, Ephemeral as We Speak, en 2007.

«Pour caractériser notre musique, j'utilise le terme ?cinématographique?. On n'est pas très rock, on reste dans les ambiances, avec les effets de piano et de guitare vaporeux», décrit François Graham, qui a grandi en France avant d'atterrir à Montréal il y a cinq ans.

«Nous voulons créer un univers qui fait que la personne qui écoute se fait emporter par la musique, sort du monde réel. Notre style est plus relaxant que groovy», ajoute le claviériste qui étudie en médecine, tout comme la violoncelliste Camille Hudon...

L'aventure cinématographique

Le qualificatif ?cinématographique? utilisé par François Graham pour décrire la musique du groupe prend tout son sens à travers sa présence dans le film de Xavier Dolan, qui a surpris et conquis le milieu du septième art.

C'est Xavier Dolan qui a contacté François Graham via le site Internet de Surface of Atlantic. Amateur de la musique du groupe, le jeune réalisateur indépendant voulait demander s'il pouvait s'approprier une ou deux chansons pour le film qu'il était en train de compléter.

«Au départ, nous étions peut-être un peu méfiants, mais quand Xavier nous a dit qu'Anne Dorval jouait dans le film, on s'est dit que le projet devait être sérieux», raconte le claviériste, en ajoutant que le groupe s'est identifié au cheminement du jeune réalisateur qui peinait à trouver du financement pour son oeuvre.

De une à deux, puis à trois, ce sont finalement quatre chansons de Surface of Atlantic qui se sont retrouvées dans le film de Xavier Dolan. Trois de ces pièces (Ancestors, Hide et Swarm) étaient tirées de l'album du groupe, tandis que la quatrième (No Sleep Walk) était destinée à la prochaine production de la formation.

«On n'avait pas fini d'enregistrer la chanson, et Xavier en avait besoin quelque chose comme deux jours plus tard. Nous avons fait un mix rapide, un mastering rapide», se souvient François Graham.

On connaît la suite. «On n'a pas eu de ses nouvelles (de Xavier Dolan), puis on a vu qu'il avait été sélectionné pour Cannes, et qu'il y a gagné trois prix. Nous avons assisté à la première à Montréal», poursuit le musicien ému d'entendre ? et de voir! ? la musique de son groupe enrichir la texture de ce film d'une grande sensibilité.

«C'était bouleversant, surtout la scène où on entend No Sleep Walk. On était tous vraiment émotifs. Nous étions ivres de joie!» commente-t-il.

Le groupe, qui ne dirait pas non à d'autres incursions dans le monde du cinéma, vise l'automne prochain pour la sortie de son deuxième album.
- Le Nouvelliste

Heute habe ich mal wieder einen großen Import-Tipp, den ich meinen Lesern nahe legen möchte. Es handelt sich um A Frame Per Season von Surface Of Atlantic aus Montreal. Dahinter stecken viele tolle und talentierte Musiker. Eine grandiose Folk-Platte, die bewegt und im Gedächtnis bleibt. Jeder Ton, jedes Instrument, jedes Wort ist perfekt platziert. Wem die Lieder nicht berühren, ist wohl gefühlstechnisch tod.

Eingeleitet wird das Album von No Sleep, Walk. Tolle Streicher, ein Drum, dann ein leichtes Glockenspiel und kurz vor dem Höhepunkt setzt eine E-Gitarre ein, bis alles Instrumente mit einander verschmolzen sind und die sanfte Stimme von Dave Douville einsetzt. Wie ein gewaltiger Knall wirkt dieser bombastischer Sound. A Land of Long Evenings ist da sehr verträumter. Man fühlt sich als würde man auf einer großen Wiese auf dem Rücken liegen um den im Inlay gezeigten blauen Himmel zu betrachten und einen Hauch von Wind auf der Haut zu spüren. Generell durchzieht dieses Album ein Gefühl der Freiheit.

Nach einem kurzen und leisem Intermezzo bei Bonjour Tristesse geht es etwas poppiger mit Tea Garden weiter. Großer Folk mit einigen Blasinstrumenten. Hier ist der Rhythmus gleich viel schneller. Jedoch wirkt der etwas rockigere Klang weder störend noch unpassend. - Der Impuls

SURFACE OF ATLANTIC
Voici l´une des belles perles de la musique montréalaise, le groupe Surface of Atlantic n´a pas encore fait de coup d´éclat, mais il a tout de même deux excellents albums à son actif. Leur performance en concert a permis de démarrer le bouche à oreille à leur sujet. Qui sait où cela s´arrêtera? Une musique planante, accrocheuse, émotive et bien orchestrée - enmusique.ca

Surface of Atlantic is yet another Montreal based band that aims to blow its audience away with prettiness, relying on atmosphere and grace to captivate the crowd. But despite a sound that is often too familiar and a plethora of emotion conveyed more by the scene than by the songs themselves, they are still a good band that definitely has the talent to pull a few tricks.
One thing the band can really pull off well is bringing their songs to a good apex. Starting with a soft air, they increase the tension by having guitar riffs pop up, turning coos into wails and sending string arrangements into full force. At these points the whole package pays off and the band is truly impressive and compelling. In the times between these swells, however, you feel like you are just waiting for the next one.
But this isn't always the case. At the band's recent Thomson House performance they added some good old fashioned rocking out to their formula. Though the pianist apologized at one point for being "… too violent for you guys," the 'violence' eliminated a lot of the downtime that plagued their other songs. Energy was added to their verses and the sleepy parts were now emboldened and called actively for attention.
Surface of Atlantic could benefit from more songs like this, but their sound is already largely focused on loveliness, making aggression sound straining. Bolder instrumentals also make the feathery-soft lead vocals awkard and out of place. This is aggravating, because the vocals, which are mostly in the background and consist of breathy sighs, could have been what the slow parts of the songs needed-something to add a pulse or edge and keep the songs moving towards their climaxes. Instead, the vocals mimic the rest of the music: the wails during the swells are effective, but the rest of the time they just hang there, waiting for some life to be put into them.
As much as their chosen style seems to be flawed, however, Suface of Atlantic's last two numbers showed that they could still produce compelling songs. The first, "In A Forest," started much like their other pieces, but was punchier and swelled up much more quickly
-keeping pace with a profusion of ideas kept the song from staying in one place for too long. Some well-placed amp feedback then helped the band glide into "High Enough to Fall," which ended the set on a high note-the lead singer frantically strumming the hell out of his guitar in an energetic electric explosion that his vocals gave him no credit for.
The three aforementioned songs aside, however, Surface of Atlantic plays largely to the soft laid-back indie crowd: it's pretty, it's atmospheric and it has a strong air of romanticism behind it. But for everyone else the downtime will be frustrating, and you may want to skip out, especially if you are into rock bands of the livelier kind. If you're on the fence about it, however, they are definitely recommended. For the most part they are a tight band and take their songs to compelling grandeur; they just take their time to
get there.

Surface of Atlantic plays on Sept. 22 at O Patro Vys, 356 Mont-Royal East. Call (514) 845-3855 for ticket information - McGill Tribune - Geoffrey Anstey

Les preuves sont faites. Le groupe montrealais Surface of Atlantic est definitivement sorti du placard pour prouver, une fois de plus, qu'il y a du talent au Quebec. Apres le EP Fairmount Avnue paru en 2005, Ephemeral As We Speak s'avere etre un heureux melange de pesanteur et de melancolie. Rythmes qui coulent agreablement, piano d'une douceur remarquable et vois melancolique qui vont voyager dans un reve instantane.
Dix titres, tous chantes dans un anglais (mis a part le dernier) impeccable, je dois l'avouver. 36 minutes de melodies pures et accrocheuses. Un peu court comme album me direz-vous? Mais o comment complet! Les gars ont su meler la legerete, avec des pieces comme Swarm et Ancestors, a une rythmique que l'on peut retrouver dans Going Under et A Perfect Sight. Pur ce qui est des textes, je n'a qu'un mot... Poesie.
Un album qui accompagnera parfaitement les longues journees d'hiver. Un survol de leur site Internet saura vous donner un avant-gout de la beaute de Surface of Atlantic. Et si vous desirez vous procurer l'album Ephemeral as We Speak, sachez qu'il n'est que sur les tablettes de disquaires independants ou par le biais du site du groupe.

La note Chronik: 9/10

Web reference:
http://www.chronik.ca/_Webzine/200710/ChronikWebzine200710.html

- Chronik Webzine - October 2007 - Melissa Levesque

Been a bit since Montreal blew us away with an incendiary new band. For a while there it seemed as if every combo from that part of Canada had cracked the elusive code to writing great songs. Of late though, the flood has turned into a trickle even if there are promising signs of life. Surface of Atlantic are still perfecting their art, their recent debut LP ‘Ephemeral As We Speak’ was only their second ever release. It is an album of polished indie rock that has a penchant for intermittent effervescent bursts of activity. ‘Lights Out’ is one of the impressive highlights and it somehow conjures a victory without the need for a meaningful chorus. Snow Patrol may be a reference and if anything they offer a deeper emotional experience. Surface of Atlantic have undoubtedly got a bit to go, but don't be surprised if this is the start of an epic voyage

Web reference:
http://mp3hugger.com/2007/11/surface-of-atlantic-lights-out.html
- mp3 hugger - November 2007

Blending together both Sigur Ros-like ambience and aggresive indie rock songwriting, Surface is one of my favorite finds as of late. Formed in Montreal in 2003, Surface of Atlantic was conceived as an outlet for musical experimentation. When listening, you hear the piano and you hear the glistening guitars and for a minute you'd be convinced that they're just biting Sigur Ros, but the bottom falls out and fast rocking drums come in and turns the song into to something completely different. The band recently finished up their Fairmount Avenue EP and expect to have a full length out by spring. Recommended for fans of: Sigur Ros, The Velvet Teen and anything else of the like. - skatterbrain.org

Surface of the Atlantic. Ephemeral as we speak. Based in Montreal, this indie-rock band has been touring the city, no doubt trying to refine its musical identity. Ephemeral as we speak is the studio-engineered product of that journey. This, their debut release, is a masterful, well-crafted effort that is rich in unapologetic emotionality. The band seems to thrive in the epic ambience of the studio as they roll through melodically repetitive patterns that build themselves up in a grandiose manner reminiscent of Iceland's pop-rock princes Leaves. In this way, a lot of the songs on the album are prophetic, sometimes excessively so.

One of the better songs is "A Perfect Sight," which has an enthralling melodic quality that bears a vague familiarity. In fact, at times, Surface of the Atlantic's David Douville has a vocal depth and earnestness similar to Radiohead's Thom Yorke. But some of the sincerity of the repertoire wears off as fragile emotionality verges on meaningless uniformity. The band's sombre and mellow style is a bit amorphous and even generic; an unfortunate affliction that separates the profound from the every-band. Being too generic, Surface runs the risk of being engulfed by a musical genre crowded by similar ideas. Despite this, it has great technical and artistic potential if it can avoid becoming the radio-friendly common denominator.
- McGill Tribune