New Music From Patrick Watson

Montréal-based musician Patrick Watson, the recipient of Canada’s Polaris Music Prize, in addition to multiple Juno and Polaris nominations, returns in 2022 with a new album called Better In The Shade. According to the artist, “This album is about negotiating a world where you don’t know what’s real anymore. I really spent a lot of time reading to improve my lyrics for this record. I was very inspired by Jesus’ Son by Denis Johnson, The Waves by Virginia Woolf and Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin. The lyrics are a collection of little thoughts that were pacing in my head. We worked hard on rebuilding the tones of our arrangements and we brought a bigger electronic component to the music. With the addition of modular synths, we were able to find a warmer and more touching approach to the electronics, that feel as acoustic as the rest of the instruments and move like liquid. Basically, I went back to school for the last two years to be able to bring something new (ha-ha). Andrew Barr from the Barr Brothers joined us on drums for this record, it’s a pleasure to play music with such a great musician.”

Advance single “Height of the Feeling” is at radio before the album’s April 22 release. Watson says the song “is about using intimacy as a compass when you feel out of your skin. I sometimes just have trouble without affection to ground me. I don’t know if that’s good or bad, it just is. I was lucky to be able to co-write this with Ariel Engle from La Force. She’s so much fun to work with. We just did loads of improv takes on one mic and giggled together the whole time.”

“Québécois maven drapes his red velvet falsetto over songs about loss and melancholy” – MOJO

“Dreamily rendered, falsetto-rich ruminations on the way human beings are wired” – NPR MUSIC

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Label: Secret City Records

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