Vancouver dark-pop band The Belle Game are set to finish 2014 off with a bang. Their first full-length album, Ritual Tradition Habit came out in April and has slowly been building buzz since. Recently, music taste-making website Pitchfork gave the album a favourable review and picked the track “River” for best new music.
“It has been great because we’ve seen a lot of great instant short-term results. We saw so much traffic from people listening to our song ‘River,’” Katrina Jones, pianist and backing vocalist for the band, said.
But the publicity from Pitchfork has given the band more than just exposure.
“There has been more long-term big picture stuff, that unfortunately we can’t talk about yet. We’ve been fortunate to have people reach out and show interest. It has been great in both those ways. We are very thankful that Pitchfork found us and decided to write about us,” Jones said.
The record blends pop sensibilities and composition with dense sounds and heavy lyrics.
“We have this dark-pop idea that we are a pop band that writes sad and pretty, emotionally heavy songs. I’m really happy that people are picking up on that. They are listening enough to go through the poppy catchy exterior and make into the lyrics,” Adam Nanji, lead vocalist and guitarist, said.
The group’s aesthetic carries from their sound right into the first music video for Ritual Tradition Habit, “Wait Up For You.”
“It was a very positive, collaborative experience. It almost felt like there was another band member. It was cool to see the song take on this new life through the video,” Nanji said.
The Belle Game has another video in the works for “River,” but said they are keeping details under wraps.
They kicked off their fall plans with a performance at Ottawa Folk Fest Sept. 7. In October 2013, the band is heading off to Banff Music Centre for an Independent Music Residency.
“The program accepts three or four indie bands a year to go up and work with a production team,” Jones said. “We are accepted and we applied because two of the members of Broken Social Scene are the ones that run it. So we will be up there with three other bands as well as Shawn Everett and Kevin Drew.”
After that, the band plans on touring, Jones added.
The Belle Game’s knack for creating catchy, weighty songs is starting to pay off. They will be back in the Ottawa area again Oct. 24, playing the Blacksheep Inn.
