Music Review - L’embuscade at Divan Orange

by SolarDog

The sky turned a greyish-black at around 9pm on Wednesday evening as I biked down Saint Laurent on my way to catch local post-hardcore rockers L’embuscade play a show along with Caledonia and The Darcys at Le Divan Orange. I recognized L’embuscade guitarist Nick Kuepfer sitting at a table in the front window and we had a little chat about the layers in the clouds and how the show wouldn’t be starting for another hour. So, to save myself from hanging around feeling like a shoe, I biked back home in just enough time to watch a half-hour rain storm hit Montreal through my living room window.

When I returned, there was no shortage of an audience, considering the bad weather. Toronto/ Halifax outfit The Darcys had already started their set of harmony, noise and melody when I walked in. I kind of wished I had caught a bit more of their set because it sounded quite good. A five piece consisting of trumpet, drums, bass and electric guitars, the Darcys have been touring quite a bit since the self-release of their first full length album ‘Endless Water’ in 2007.

L’embuscade was second on the bill and had prepared a set of older tunes from their self-titled EP (produced, and released by the band with original artwork by Kuepfer AKA Daygristle Screens) as well as some newer ones. Imagine a blend of sounds that have been pulled together from styles of music as diverse as afro-beat, flamenco, post-punk, new wave, jazz and modern alternative rock. L’embuscade have the musical skills and ability to encapsulate many genres and create an altogether original sound. They use complex rhythmic timings, counterpoint three part vocal harmonies, tight musical arrangements, textured guitar & bass lines, and an intelligent use of space.

Jesson Moen (Darling Arms, Mark Berube) plays the bass guitar, piano, melodica and sings a good portion of the songs. In fact, all of the members of the band sing and are multi-instrumentalists, with Nick Kuepfer (Echoes Still Singing Limbs, Nader Hasan) switching from lightning fast finger-style electric guitar to bass guitar and Julien Landry (Darling Arms) simultaneously playing drums, melodica, shakers and singing harmonies.

To create some layers of sound, cellist Kristina Koropecki (Darling Arms) and violinist John Corban (Pazzia Contemporary Performing Collective) joined the three piece on some of their new songs. This provided some droning effects and counterbalance which helped to deepen the bands’ groove. There was a clearly defined sense of direction that these artists were taking with their new material while maintaining a strong connection to the original sound.

The song titles for some of the new tunes were inspired by recent adventures in Argentina shared by the members in L’embuscade. They incorporate some Spanish word play such as Aca Poco and Las Olas, and continue to delve into the musical worlds of afro-beat and indie rock However, at times I couldn’t help but compare some of the arrangements to what I thought to be a blend of early Belle & Sebastian and Arcade Fire. To say one last thing, L’embuscade seem to be paying homage to some awesome styles of music and they pull it off with an advanced proficiency and intensity.

I didn’t stick around for much of Caledonia’s set, although I would have liked to. That’s the problem with reviewing music on a Wednesday evening and working at 9am in the morning the next day. However, they’re a great band and you can listen to some of their music here.