We Are The City

Since forming in 2008, Kelowna, BC’s We Are The City has become one of the most exciting and unpredictable forces in the Canadian music scene. The band soon began earning accolades for its atmospheric progressive-pop sound with the release of their debut LP In a Quiet World in 2009. We Are The City found themselves venturing into new musical terrain on their next release. In March 2011 the band released six songs entitled High School, the result of an experiment that began as a side project during some down time in the summer of 2010. On the quirky “Happy New Year,” West African-inspired licks give way to garage-y rock outs and fuzzed-out Rhodes piano. “Dark/Warm Air” takes a gentler approach, bringing together delicate guitar arpeggios with baroque pop breakdowns and a dash of tropical Mellotron samples. High School also allowed We Are The City to introduce the use of drum machines and string arrangements into their already very layered sound.
They also created an entire complimentary video series to the EP, alongside Vancouver based, Amazing Factory Productions, creating a unforgettable visual interpretation of the music.
“The visuals are stunning: Opener Get Happy features a super slow-motion shot of one of the guys jumping off a pier; Happy New Year is the classic basement performance video (complete with the smashing of light bulbs); That’s It, That’s All sees a member being punched in the face, bullied and beaten up by fellow teenagers; Dark/Warm Air is an underwater playland with multi-coloured glowsticks; 1987 recreates the song’s lyrics via video projections; and An Angel In White is the surreal, “out of the corner of your eye” closer to the series, recapping the key elements from the previous videos.
Throughout, the three members of the band wear white T-shirts on their heads as part of the album’s concept, and the video series captures the feel of the songs brilliantly.”
– Francois Marchand – Vancouver Sun
This fall in Canada they are releasing: “Mourning Song / Morning Song”, which is a two song, two-sided 7″ vinyl. A juxtaposition of the most beautiful alongside the most tragic. Life and death. The most beautiful thing: a waterfall and the pool below they found in the mountains of the Okanagan long before it was tarnished by spray paint and litter left by less-than-respectful visitors, now reserved only to memory. The most tragic: coming to terms with a friend’s death just after their graduation, and the dreams that followed.
With the completion of “High School” EP & “Morning Song / Mourning Song” 7”, the band members now have their sights set on a sophomore LP. While it remains to be seen in which direction they will steer their music, one thing is certain: We Are The City will continue their attempt to push musical boundaries and hopefully stumble across something not yet heard in the process.
Copyright 2011 We Are The City