West My Friend has flipped the script on its forthcoming album Quiet Hum.
Instead of adding instruments or a brass section, Quiet Hum is a pure, lighthearted listen.
“What’s different about this album is it focuses more on what we sound like live, instrumentation wise,” says guitarist Eden Oliver. “Our last album had a lot of extra strings and brass, but when we’re on the road, we don’t bring those along – thus far.”
The focus is on simplicity for the indie acoustic band, she says – along with a look at what it is to be an artist.
“When we were making the album, one theme emerged. We were writing songs about writing songs and the role of musicians in society. We tend to write about topics that interest us, not just a slew of love songs – although there are some on there,” she says.
The Victoria-based band is at the end of a five-week European tour that took them from France to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and the UK.
“We did a tour in Europe last February that was mostly in the UK,” says Oliver. “This time we’ve spent more time on the continent. We’re still breaking new ground. … This type of music goes over well in Europe.”
Quiet Hum is the band’s third album, produced by Juno nominee David Travers-Smith at Fiddlehead studios on Mayne Island.
“David Travers-Smith was the producer, he mastered an album for us before, he’s worked with folk artists like Ruth Moody,” she says. “Each time we’ve done an album we’ve worked with a different producer. It was really interesting to work with him (as a producer) because we wanted to for so long – we got a lot of Canadian folk music experience through him.”
West My Friend, which also includes Jeff Poynter, Alex Rempel and Nick Mintenko, has received generous support from hometown fans and the band is ready to launch Quiet Hum in Victoria on May 27.
“We’ve seen pretty amazing support over the last few years – the whole time we’ve been a band – we’ve seen it grow,” says Oliver.
The album launch is at 7pm at Andrew's Presbyterian Church. “We’re excited about it. The Sweet Low Down is opening for us, they are super lovely and have a super amazing sound. And we have some sneaky guest musicians, some surprises. We’re playing the whole album back to front.”
Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, kids under 12 are free. Tickets are available at Larsen Music, Lyle's Place, Ivy's Books, and online at Eventbrite.