It’s a late Thursday morning and Memoryhouse’s Evan Abeele and Denise Nouvion have no intention of turning on Skype’s video chat option to be interviewed.
“Audio would work best,” Nouvion laughs. “We’re basically in our pajamas right now.”
Sleepwear is appropriate attire, actually. The Toronto-based dream-pop duo is ready to emerge from a prolonged musical slumber with the upcoming release of Soft Hate (February 9), their second full-length record and first new offering in four years.
Why the long wait? Their 2012 album The Slideshow Effect — the polished, major label (Sub Pop) follow-up to their sleepy, bedroom-produced debut EP, The Years — was well-received by critics and fans, but the massive effort required to support the release left Abeele and Nouvion emotionally and physically exhausted to the point of questioning their career choice.
“We did crazy touring,” says Abeele.
“Ooooh, crazy touring,” echoes Nouvion. “And by the end of that, we were just done.”
“We had to figure out if we really wanted to write another record,” Abeele admits.”Touring is really draining, and it’s weird being an adult and being in a band, and no one really gets what you’re doing, especially your family and your friends.”
So the pair, both natives of Guelph, Ontario, took some time to rest and rediscover themselves. For Nouvion, 25, that meant finishing her film studies degree at the University of Toronto. For Abeele, 28, that meant composing new music for himself and others. For Memoryhouse, that meant parting ways with their label. And from this little slice of normal, a new album slowly began to form.
Very slowly.
“With this record, we decided that we were just going to take our time and figure out the best version of ourselves we can be,” says Abeele.
That leisurely pace was perfect for them, but family members weren’t quite so laid-back about the whole thing. “We’re from working-class families, so the fact that we took like four years to write this album was kind of looked upon critically by our families,” says Nouvion. “They’re both very supportive, but they’re also like, ‘Hey, there’s a job posting down the street at the grocery store. Why don’t you work there?'”
Memoryhouse fans have also been impatient, peppering the band’s Twitter feed and Facebook page with pleas for new music. “It makes sense people are frustrated,” she concedes with a laugh. “It’s been four years.”
Based on Soft Hate‘s first three singles, “Dream Shake,” “Arizona,” and “Sarah,” the wait has been worthwhile. Pensively upbeat with a tinge of melancholia, the songs are the most straightforwardly confident material that Memoryhouse has ever released. Nouvion’s voice — a unique Midwestern deadpan — seems to take up more sonic space, pushing against the dreamy distortions cocooning her vox while never feeling confined by them, and the duo’s overall sound is more unabashedly poppy, hazy melodies kept honest with driving bass and percussion (as on the infectious “Dream Shake”) and sneak-attack hooks (like on the drop-dead gorgeous “Sarah”).
The change reflects a shift in the duo’s songwriting dynamics. “With this record, it really was Denise who was the head songwriter,” Abeele says. “She wrote nine of the 10 songs by herself, and, in a way, I got to get to my strengths, which is actually just arranging songs. So we really got the best of both worlds.”
They also consciously looked beyond their go-to influences for musical inspiration. “I feel like when we were writing the record, it was like Katy Perry and Taylor Swift that we were listening to, because it felt like it was a fresher thing from the indie music we had our heads buried in for six years,” he says. “You can get tunnel vision when you’re only listening to this underground music, this music that honestly takes some modicum of effort to enjoy, like My Bloody Valentine.”
And why the title Soft Hate? “I think it relates specifically to our relationship with music,” Nouvion explains.
“We both love it and hate it,” Abeele chimes in. “It’s like perpetually playing the lottery, that’s what a music career is. You’re just hoping that for no reason you break through, and in the same way you buy a lottery ticket, there’s no reason and there’s no rubric for what gets you to that next level. There’s a lot of luck involved.”
Ironically, one of the places Memoryhouse has yet to really break through is Canada. “We broke out in the United States and Europe,” he says. “Canada never really got us until after we had reached farther regions, so there was never really any greater sense of ownership. We found that, to be honest, you don’t make it in Canada until you make it everywhere else.”
He continues, “To get really big in Canada, you have to go in this infinite feedback loop of like four major cities, 26 other cities, and just constantly do it.”
Which brings up that touring bugaboo again. To retest the waters, Nouvion accompanied Abeele when he toured Italy with fellow Canadian band Barzin last May. It was fun but still raised some red flags. “It’s kind of like being bludgeoned with a wrecking ball after a few weeks,” he confesses. “I’m up to three in the morning, and no one is eating food, everyone’s just drinking, and it’s just such a different experience. It can take years off your life, I think. Although it’s so fun and it’s so special to get to meet people that like your music all across the world, you kind of have to be careful.”
Nouvion sums it up by saying, “I don’t think we’re the touring type of people.”
Still, now without a label, they’re calling the shots, which means they can plan a tour that better fits their lifestyle. “Instead of playing two months across the USA, playing like 55 shows in 60 days, maybe we would play 30 shows in 40 days,” says Abeele. “That way, you get to see the country and engage with fans but not lose your sense of place in the world.”
Touring blues aside, both Abeele and Nouvion feel more comfortable than they ever have with the balance of their personal and professional lives.
“I feel like we’re always going to be making music,” says Nouvion. “I think we’re going to be making it the way we want to make it. What’s great about not having a label is you can define how you’re going to create and then define that music.”
“We’re honestly just in a really healthy place where we feel like, ‘I can do all things,'” says Abeele. “That’s so exciting.”
Pre-order ‘Soft Hate’ on iTunes. Pre-orders for special edition cassettes and photobooks can be made here.
