THIS QUIET ARMY
thisquietarmy from montreal
An American confronted with Democracy of Dust, the latest album of weighty guitar-and-synth instrumentals by ThisQuietArmy, might hear it as commentary on contemporary U.S. politics, especially with tracks like the surging overture, “Welcome to Mendacity” and the pensive “Post-Truth.” But the album was recorded primarily in Brazil by a one-man band from Montreal who is not focused on just one country’s issues.
“I don’t really want to get political with my music; I prefer to keep it abstract for the most part. But obviously, what is happening around the world affects all of us and every country has its own political situation,” ThisQuietArmy tells PureHoney by email.
“Lately because I travel frequently in various corners of the globe, I am able to observe the relationship between the people and their governments first hand,” he writes. “At the time I was working on the album, the country was in a state of emergency with the Zika virus outbreak and severe drought and the government got criticized a lot for their poor management of the situation.”
“But this is just one example,” he adds, citing protests also encountered in Turkey, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and his home country of Canada. “If you can relate to the album concept, whether you’re an American or any other citizen of the world, then I’ve done my job.”
Set and Setting | Photo by Sandro Hanke
ThisQuietArmy joins the instrumental quintet Set and Setting on tour this fall in a kindred pairing of unsung (literally) projects, each with its own approach to immersive, guitar-powered music. Set and Setting’s ensemble yields a wall of sound inlaid with a seeming infinity of textures on their new album Reflectionless,
ThisQuietArmy says the joint tour arose from an accumulation of mutual contacts.
“Shane Handal from S&S already knew my music and good friends of mine organized their last two shows in Montreal, so the decision to pair up was organic in that sense,” he writes. “We’re very much looking forward to playing together for a couple of weeks, and we’re even planning on doing a few impromptu live collaborations on select shows as well.”
ThisQuietArmy perform with Set and Setting and Wilkes Oswald October 17 at Voltaire in West Palm Beach. ~ Sean Piccoli
