Indie Rock by Carbon Memory

Toronto-based outfit Carbon Memory is a dynamic alternative rock band who develop sonic snapshots that are both transporting and cinematic. The Canadian band cues magnetic guitars and contemplative lyrics to a reel of ambient textures that oscillate between a sense of nostalgia and optimism.

It is in this spirit that the band came upon the sound and title of their upcoming EP, Tourist. Following the arduous process of self-producing/recording their 2018 debut EP, Panoramas, the band decided to enlist the help of Toronto producer Graham Walsh (Holy Fu*k, Alvvays, METZ) to best capture and instigate sonic experimentation on the group’s latest material.

Tourist was recorded over a period of two weeks, late summer 2020, at Toronto’s Palace Sound and Candle Recording studios. The EP features the band’s most compact and direct work yet. From the hazy, ethereal shoegaze textures and krautrock inspired “Distance” to the smug and insidious piano driven crooner “Rumours” that burns slow but heavy; Tourist gives the listener an idea of where the band has been and hints of where they want to go next. “The Only One” borrows plenty from the British Alternative rock aesthetic with a wall of guitars, a pulsing piano and soaring catchy choruses. “Closure” is the band’s organic midnight summer synth funk jam, while the brooding track “Tonight” plays out a recurring dream suspended by angular rhythms, wiry guitars and haunting melodies.

August 2018, saw the band release its debut EP, Panoramas; setting across Southern Ontario for a string of shows including dates at Toronto’s iconic Opera House and Lee’s Palace. The band was also featured on Southern Souls, the fantastic online video archive of the latest Canadian independent talent, showcasing two live-off-the-floor performances of the band’s jazzy and psychedelic laced track “Medusa” and their embracing folk-inspired song “Ocean of Gold”.

Now the brand bring us their latest release with the single “Tonight”, a brooding follow-up single off their upcoming EP, Tourist, due August 2021.

“Tonight” pushes and pulls rhythmically, syncing in and out with a suspending guitar melody that gives the track a regenerative and dreamy quality. The song’s lyrics cycle through states of mindfulness and indifference in a loving relationship at odds with the routine and mundane rituals of everyday life. Commenting on the track, the band say, “Tonight is about struggling to be truly present in each other’s company and the ticking introspection that follows.”

The chorus’ jagged guitars and commanding vocals circle back on the band’s “Anthemic Alt Rock” sound as described by Alan Cross (A Journal of Musical Things) and sets up a convulsive guitar solo that sputters and glitches uncontrollably.

Continuing, “This is probably the most spontaneous and unhinged moments on this record. We pretty much played a fuzzed out guitar on the verge of feedback, while mangling and warping the guitar signal in real-time using a delay pedal. It was collaborative musical sabotage and our closest attempt to writing noise music.”

Listen to Tonight below