Michou reaching for Canadian stardom
By Robert Zuniga
Lance Writer
March 24, 2010
 On March 26, The Blind Dog will host Windsor’s own Michou as they perform new songs from their first studio album entitled Cardona. This will be the band’s biggest celebration yet as they prepare for their much anticipated CD release and current tour.
Since releasing their virtual album for iTunes Canada back in February, Michou has gained an increasing number of fans and artists alike.
The video for the first single “Growing Younger” was featured at the top of the MuchMoreMusic’s Countdown chart well before any hardcopy of the record was available to the public.
Even though “Growing Younger” was shot along a stretch path on Concession Road by the outlet mall, it has grown beyond the band’s expectations. The low-budget film was just meant to be put on their blog. Once it was shown to their manager, it spread like wildfire.
Emotions run high for band members these days, especially after playing in Toronto with Dashboard Confessional on their first sold-out show.
“It has been a rollercoaster of emotions jumping between the music production and having the time to enjoy the shows leading up to our release,” affirmed Michael Hargreaves, lead vocalist.
This is also the first time the band had a producer, Phil Deschambault, who helped them make important decisions about the songs that made it on the album.
The collaboration process was somewhat different than the band’s previous works since the musical analysis was considered to a greater level of detail.
Hargreaves further explains that in the album’s composition, “there would be a drum beat that would signal a certain word or phrase in a song every time one listens to it.”
This carefully analyzed musical signature is what distinguishes the “sound effect” in Michou’s Cardona through its poly-sonic set of sometimes three or four melodies intertwined with dynamic lyrics and melancholic themes.
Like their previous releases, Cardona was named after a main literary character—this time it was Marie Cardona from the novel L'Étranger (often translated as The Outsider) by Albert Camus.
Hargreaves says Michou went after this character because she was hardly described in the book even though she played a significant part in the plot.
“A lot of people try to find their identity or struggle to connect with other people,” Hargreaves explained.
Thus, it is not surprising that the song “Struggling to Connect” best exemplifies their CD title’s character.
Michou has high expectations for their CD release party as it brings on stage many musical guests, string and horn players, and a small drum core. The main highlight of the event, of course, is bringing a hardcopy of their CD to Windsor audiences first.
“For us it would be more of a celebration. We are very excited to put out this record,” stated Hargreaves.
Hoping that this new record would bring Michou to a new level of Canadian stardom, Hargreaves has been collaborating on the technical aspect of studio recording with mixing engineers and producers.
Michou has its eye set on touring the U.K., as new opportunities to record new songs and of course new videos come about.
Check out Michou on March 26 at The Blind Dog at 8 p.m.
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