Gentle percussions take a back seat to a synthesized sonic soundscape and Dane Letourneau’s vocals on his new album 20/20.
“It’s beautiful and it’s got a bigger focus on vocals and lyrics than ever before,” said Letourneau. “You can definitely hear the voices more.”
The Nanaimo musician, also known as the lead singer for Gold and Shadow, released the album in June. While the album was initiated by Letourneau and released under his name, he said it’s not really a solo project because it features his former band mates. Gold and Shadow took a hiatus last August for an indeterminate period. However, Letourneau hints that a Gold and Shadow project may be on the horizon.
Letourneau said 20/20 was inspired by a journey away from a career path he wasn’t fully invested in.
“The album was inspired sonically by synthesizers … I wanted to play with also getting my drummer to hold back and get some quieter, groovier beats. So the album is kind of built around my synth and groovier beats,” he said. “Lyrically I wanted to express a few things, one was walking away from a career path that wasn’t fulfilling for me and just journeying towards realizing that community is such an incredibly important part of my life.”
Songwriting is an interesting process, said Letourneau.
“I feel like I have no control over it whatsoever. I feel like I sit down with an instrument like a guitar or a synthesizer and I’ll just start playing something and usually a song will get, it feels like, dropped on me,” he said. “Usually within five minutes I’ll just write up a little test lyric, hum a melody and make up some little lyrics to it and it coalesces really quickly into something that makes sense.”
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One example, said Letourneau, is the song Eclipse, which is about “how crazy” it is not to be doing anything about climate change “considering how important” it is. He said the song came really quickly. He got the chord progression and then the lyrics “just came out of nowhere,” said Letourneau.
“I feel like I edit it, but I don’t feel like I really control where it comes from. It’s these little moments of inspiration that you can’t program, control or schedule whatsoever,” he said.
The album was recorded entirely in Letourneau’s home studio in Nanaimo, which is a first for the musician.
“I think it is really listenable,” said Letourneau about 20/20. “It’s something I put a lot of love into.”
The album is available on iTunes, Spotify and streaming services. Letourneau is performing during an album release show at White Sails Brewing Friday (July 14) at 8 p.m. A Life In Binary is the opening act for the concert. Admission is by donation.
“That [show is] going to be quite exciting. It’s a really neat space to play music,” said Letourneau.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
