Music
Press
"Hot sounds, great lyrics, and that notorious It factor...The Habit throws a hip-shaker of a party with every show."
- Fateema Sayani
"A delicate musicality...an intuitive blending of earthy vocals, thoughtful bass lines and a plethora of instruments, including some stunning violin sections..." Lara Purvis, June 2007
"A habit you won't want to kick...spectacular harmonies...imagine the sound that Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon would produce if they had grown up in the US South...magnificent." Brad Turcotte, Nov. 2005 - Lara Purvis - June 2007
"The Habit's EP "The June Sessions" simply sounds harmonious and fantastic...so simple and technically perfect...I cannot be completely certain was is going on here, but I think I like it. I think I like it a lot." - David Moscrop, Marcus McCann - November 2004
"The June Sessions is absolutely gorgeous...Five stars (out of five)."
"Very original, pushes the envelope...extremely catchy with a horde of strong singers and luscious production. Definitely a band to watch." - garageband.com
"Noted for its sweet soulful hamornies, indie-rock sound, and intimate showmanship, The Habit has become a darling on the Ottawa music scene." - June 2007 - Where Ottawa
"Any Ottawa band would love fan letters from all over the world. Folk/funk/popsters The Habit have achieved this kind of success." (See full article at www.thehabit.ca)
..."Fighter" appears on the new record along with 11 other straightforward, smooth, pop-soul songs. The key to the soulful sound is The Habit's four vocalists, all of whom harmonize beautifully throughout the record..." Caitlin Crockard, Chart Magazine - Caitlin Crockard, Chart Magazine
"Pretty, heroic pop music…The Habit is the rare band that can make the link between pop, folk and classical music.” - CBC Radio 1 - Alan Neal
“The Habit should post warnings: people might leave their shows suffering from uncontrollable happiness.” - Paul Symes, Owner
The Habit is easily one of Ottawa's hardest-working bands. After two albums - the last of which was nominated in our Best Folk/Pop Album of 2008 category - the shape-shifting collective is trucking out number 3. Safe House - named for the recording studio/apartment of its origin, located next door to Russian informer Igor Gouzenko's suspected hideout - comes hot on the heels of their recent run in top 10 campus radio charts. But, make no mistake, The Habit aren't fluffy radio rock. Nope, rather it's their barely suppressed glee in performance of pop, blues, folk and soul numbers that tends to do the number of their audiences. Toronto's NOW Magazine referred t othe band's Toronto debut as one of the "hottest gigs of 2008." Being from Ottawa, chances are you already know that to be the case. If not, tonight: The Habit w/ Dan Voltan, Amy Campbell @ Zaphods. - May 13, 2009
"The eight-piece band crosses genres from Afro-Acadian R&B to folk-funk, and uses their music and website to promote equal marriage rights for same-sex couples (watch out Harper). These musicians deliver a cacophonic aphrodisiac of sorts, with saxophone, clarinet and violin ballads that will make you horny."
..and from an earlier piece:
"Former D*Rogers tech maverick Darren Rogers and producer Dan Valin trade sleek electronic manipulation for down-to-earth grooves on a new project dubbed The Habit...exotic acoustic soul centred around the fine call-and-response vocals of Rogers, Valin, Michael Stevenson and Agatha Alstrom, bolstered by ever-present percolating bongos, meagre six strings and sinewey violin." - Dayanti Karunaratne
Discography
Safe House - full-length album - June 2009
The Sacred and The Profane - full-length debut album, released July 7, 2007 - national college radio Top 30 album.
Fighter - single released May 2006
The June Sessions - 6-song EP released in November 2004.
MP3s can be heard at www.thehabit.ca and www.myspace.com/thehabitca
Photos
Bio
“Heroic pop music…The Habit is the rare band that can make the link between pop, folk and classical music.”
- CBC Radio 1
“People around the world are acquiring a new Habit...Carefully-crafted, smooth pop-soul songs…the vocalists harmonize beautifully.”
- Chart Magazine
"Hot sounds, great lyrics, and that notorious It factor...The Habit throws a hip-shaker of a party with every show."
- Ottawa Citizen
In 2009, The Habit was named "a hero of Ottawa's indie universe" and "the Capital's premiere collective." Their 2009 album Safe House last album hit Top 10 campus radio charts across Canada. Their previous album was nominated for Best Album of 2008 by Ottawa Xpress. NOW Magazine chose their Toronto debut as one of the hottest gigs of 2008. Reviewers have called their music everything from "crowd-happy club pop" to "cocky folk-funk." Their music has become course material for at least one U.S. college. Now, The Habit is starting 2009 with their biggest adventure album yet.
The Habit released its third album, Safe House, in June 2009. Straddling the boundaries between folk, soul, blues and pop, Safe House finds The Habit in a very good place. The album was recorded live-off-the-floor to capture the exuberance and energy the band brings to its live shows. The Habit's three singers take turns on lead vocals, though the other two are always close by to blend in with ear-bending harmonies. Rhythms shift, and the violin and sax morph into sputtering horns or soaring string sections as required.
Safe House follows the Habit's first album, The Sacred and The Profane (TSTP). TSTP found a global audience, in part because of the song Fighter, which The Habit released in support of same-sex marriage. Fighter was picked up by blogs and newswires around the world, and within a week had been translated into Spanish, German, Flemish and Japanese. Beyond that buzz, TSTP became a college radio hit across Canada, hitting the Top Album charts from Kamloops to Saskatoon to Antigonish.
Links
