Montreal’s emergence as a hotspot for novel music of purpose has accelerated in recent years. Rising electronic-based duo Crashride are multi-instrumentalist Jean-Sébastien Côté and guitarist Francois Therriault, and their nuanced textures defy geographical pigeonholes to float across land and sea with Esperanto grace.
Tangerine Dream seems to be the most common comparison applied to them, but this album’s rippling rhythms never settle for one default mode, whispering too of gentle progressive rock and meditative chill-out soundscapes. While it’s mostly instrumental, Frederike Bedard’s vocals infiltrate three tracks, hinting of This Mortal Coil in their elegant grandeur mixed with a pulse more warmly Vangelis than icily Kraftwerk.
Father is the stand-out, and not just because it enjoys stellar guest spots from Tony Levin on bass and Gerry Leonard (David Bowie) on guitar. You could discern some Pink Floyd in its bubbling bloodstream, but on the loopy, cinematic, On The Run end of that spectrum. Venice has flickers of jazz fusion, while other tracks will speak to fans of Air and The Besnard Lakes. Crashride’s flaw might be a lack of a unique ID, but this is easy to enjoy.
