La La Land, Plants and Animals’ newest album, was recorded in both Montreal and Paris — but frontman Nicolas Basque says it captured where they are at this specific point in their lives.
“I think we’re more affected with what we’re living in our lives than what place we are [in],” he said. “The thing with recording in France that was fun was that we were living in our studio and [you] don’t go back to your normal life — don’t do dishes, just be totally immersed in the music.”
The band, who label themselves as “post-classic rock,” gained national attention for their debut album Parc Avenue, which led to two Juno nominations in 2009, as well as a spot on the 2008 Polaris Music Prize shortlist.
The band returned this year with their second album and stopped by the Capital to play the Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest on July 14. Basque said the album captures their desire to keep changing their sound while keeping certain elements intact.“I guess it captured a lot of a newer view of touring, of life’s ups and downs,” Basque explained. “It’s much easier to have a perspective on what you just did a few months after the fact. There’s stuff we really like about [Parc Avenue] that we want[ed] to keep, and stuff we want[ed] to change and stuff we want[ed] to challenge [ourselves] with.”
Although Parc Avenue and La La Land sound different, guitarist/bassist/keyboardist Basque said that the song-writing process was fairly similar.
Basque said he worked with vocalist and rhythm guitarist Warren Spicer on certain songs. Basque said that one of the main differences between it and their first album is that there are more constraints.
“With Parc Avenue . . . we had a lot of time, and we did a lot of stuff in the first studio sessions that we never kept. Most of the songs were instrumental, and that’s not really a [good] structure.”
Basque added that the new songs had been going over well on-stage, and that the album’s sound was recorded partially with a live setting in mind.
“Before [La La Land], we played in the studio without thinking how it would sound live,” he said. “I think it has more live energy than the other record, right away, so it’s easier to bring that to the stage.”