They were already proximity songs, they have been since This Is How I Let You Down, the debut album from the Montreal band. Skin-deep music, a fine examination of relationships between humans, the soft timbre of Jon Matte, we were rocked more than stirred. This is no less the case a decade later. Except that the subject, inversely proportional to the planetary fame of the group, is dramatically personal. A question of self-confidence, we tell ourselves, this fifth disc tackles the unspeakable: the mental illness of a brother, the resulting abuse and homelessness at the end of the night. Jon Matte names like never before what he could only transpose into metaphors: the terrible Monstersboth a horror film and a piece of bravery, is at the heart ofoh brother : “ You can’t hide from the things that you are “. The whole story is there, starting with the Warning Signs. It took the pandemic and an exile in Mexico to make it happen. And that beauty becomes useful work.
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