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Making plans
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“My heart is never in one place,” says Krista Muir, “it’s in a million different places. This record really reflects that.” One of those places is the town of Accidental Railway, from whence Muir’s new record takes its name. But if you haven’t heard of it, it’s because it’s the product of Muir’s famous imagination. Five songs from this record were released as an independent EP last year (the LP is out on Indica Records), but prior to that, Muir made her name as faux-Bavarian songstress Lederhosen Lucil. Musically, this record displays more sonic depth and range than Lucil’s productions did, and its lyrics are more personal and introspective, but elements of the imaginary place that ties it together will no doubt warm the hearts of those who miss the ’hosen. “It’s my first ‘concept album,’ if you will,” says Muir. “I wrote out a history of the town with some really cute details about the cafés and the floating theatre on the river in the summertime and the hot air balloon tea party that they have every fall. I really got to let my imagination go.” The Accidental Railway CD comes with recipes, chord charts (so that listeners can play along at home) and a large, intricate map of the town, care of Muir’s musical collaborator, Shane Watt. For the launch, Watt will prepare 13 maps, one for each song. Although her input was integral to the map—featuring pieces of her hometown of Kingston, Toronto, Montreal and other places she has fond memories of, from Rouyn-Noranda to Athens, Greece—the origin of this component of the project was his. For Watt, mapping out real and imaginary places, on roughly 10-foot canvases, is a hobby, to put it mildly. “It’s his way, I think, of dealing with a very overactive brain,” says Muir. “I don’t know if he has OCD, he’s never been diagnosed, but he probably does. Not many people I know have the patience to do stuff like that for fun, and then just throw them out.” Matching the complexity of the maps, the record is the result of a long period of experimentation with stringed and makeshift instruments, vintage microphones and excessive multi-tracking. That said, Muir and Watt’s creation (mastered by Fran Ashcroft, who’s worked with the likes of Damon Albarn and the Dandy Warhols) is never busy or overwrought. Its deceptively simple pop and folk confections complement the record’s main thematic mandate, finding beauty in the everyday. “I just started thinking about all the simple things in life that I truly love, like little rituals. Making the album became kind of ritualistic because it was a daily thing. My equivalent to praying, I guess, would be putting down these melodies.” Buried in the mix are contributions from two collaborators who frequented Watt’s studio in Hochelaga-Maisonneuve: a good ghost and an evil ghost. “The evil one would shut things down and freeze the computer and turn on mics that weren’t even plugged in—it was very odd,” says Muir. “But the good ghost would help with harmonies. Sometimes you’d hear weird tones and be like, ‘What is that? It sounds really nice! Thanks, good ghost!’” CD LAUNCH, PERFORMANCE, |
