Music, musings and miscellanea

Drama is the name of the game on the debut album from Montreal’s Darling DeMaes. The way lead guitarist and group mastermind Erik Virtanen sings, you’d swear that even the dull act of grocery shopping was wrapped in dilemmas and catch-22s. Luckily Tasha Cyr is there to talk him down, creating a calming foil to Virtanen’s passionate falsetto.

The album’s 12 tracks are wrapped in tension – not the kind you’d find in emo or nu metal chugga-chugga breakdowns, but the kind derived from taught, rhythmic playing from a crack group of musicians.  It’s a perfect backdrop for a band named after a dead porn star singing twisted tales of blossoming love, grizzly murder and the impending darkness of winter.