It was late in the evening and I was still trying to understand what went wrong with this kid. You see Daniel Gélinas from Montreal was not supposed to do all these things. This was not the way things were planned for his future… Good grades at school, clever kid, had fine prospects. A bright career all lined up and ready for him. What’s wrong with a nine to five white collar job? Nothing, I say. Nothing! Be useful to society my boy and think of the security in these times of crisis… And what does he do? He throws everything out of the window … “I prefer not to”. What kind of Bartleby answer is that? Was it a nervous breakdown? He didn’t show any signs of losing the plot before but… there he is now in abandoned schools and derelict basements, recording scratches, cat hisses and songs. What happened?
I wonder if his so called friends at school are to blame. Friends at that age can throw you in the dark alleys of juvenile delinquency.
Look at these shady characters that helped him self-produce his new album called “Treacle”. No wonder…. And instead of just making a song or two, a single or, ok, an EP as a hobby without neglecting his career, no… he records a double album of music in the making. Music adrift in unchartered waters. Unfinished yet complete, coming from a cry to a whisper and going from a bang to a whimper. Music that can be found in-between chords, under the floorboards, flowing naturally or being dragged out into the open raw for all to see. Daniel Gélinas constantly dives in the fresh undercurrent of experimental ideas and resurfaces with strange turns of lyrical phrase and musical structure. Juggling between French and English, his songs have a strange capacity to Velcro into your head.
But make no mistake about it. This is no syrupy music. This is certainly “treacle” in its dictionary definition of “antidote to poison”. To the “static mainstream poison” that we listen to every day on the radio, antidote in the sense of cleansing, or in the sense of the 'Drink Me' potion that shrinks Alice in size making her slip into a different world.
Where does all that leave us with Daniel? Well, you make choices in life that YouYourself&i have to live with. Make the choice and listen to a couple of tracks from the album right here. But this is uploaded just to wet your appetite. The real trip is the double album "Treacle I & II" by YouYourself&i which is available to download for a minimal price following the link below:
The site of Daniel Gélinas and YouYourself&i
It should be noted that all the graphic work for the album was done by Daniel and his bunch of merry men and women from Montreal.
The making of "Treacle"
When you buy the album, you therefore actually hold in your hands a limited edition lovingly handmade piece of indie history in the making.
I wonder if his so called friends at school are to blame. Friends at that age can throw you in the dark alleys of juvenile delinquency.
But make no mistake about it. This is no syrupy music. This is certainly “treacle” in its dictionary definition of “antidote to poison”. To the “static mainstream poison” that we listen to every day on the radio, antidote in the sense of cleansing, or in the sense of the 'Drink Me' potion that shrinks Alice in size making her slip into a different world.
The site of Daniel Gélinas and YouYourself&i
It should be noted that all the graphic work for the album was done by Daniel and his bunch of merry men and women from Montreal.
The making of "Treacle"
When you buy the album, you therefore actually hold in your hands a limited edition lovingly handmade piece of indie history in the making.
YouYourself&i - Basement Heroes
YouYourself&i - Preludes
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