by LORRAINE CARPENTER

Belgium. Home of Hoegaarden, French fries and chocolate museums - and now, Melon Galia, the early-morning chamber pop quintet signed to Montreal's Grenadine Records. Their debut album, Les embarras du quotidien, reveals shades of Teenage Fanclub, Belle & Sebastian and the Smiths, but Melon Galia's sonic sweetness and lyrical wit are all their own. On the eve of their first American tour (and their second Montreal gig), singer Thierry De Brouwer tested his English with the Mirror.

Mirror: English markets must be tough to crack.

Thierry De Brouwer: We want to be heard by the most people possible, but it's limited, yes. I really don't know what to expect from English-speaking people because we use subtleties, we like to play with words and we don't know how people will appreciate these things. But they seem to like it in Japan. They enjoy the French language I suppose, or maybe they just love everything. It's a mystery.

M: What about the music scene in Belgium?

TDB: Brussels is very cosmopolitan, we're listening to a lot of different things, world music, chart music, intelligent techno, everything. There are a lot of bands singing in English. We didn't choose English because we didn't want to imitate our idols or the things you see on MTV. Also, I write the lyrics and, as you see, my English is not good enough to express the nuances. I can write things like, "Come on girl, let's have the party tonight," but it's not the same.

M: Very R&B. But tell me about your CD artwork. The cover is red, there are Chinese characters inside, and you've got this little mascot in a series of ad parodies. Is this an anti-capitalism statement, by any chance?

TDB: (laughs) I'm afraid not. We have our political opinions, but they're not on the cover. We worked with known comics artists from Paris [Dupuy & Berberian], and we wanted something to represent us - but without using our faces - according to our universe, something parallel to the album title and to the atmospheres of the songs.

M: And what about your Bright Eyes connection? It started when your drummer toured Europe with them?

TDB: Yes. They became our cross-the-Atlantic friends. Mike Mogis was listening to our album while we were recording in Belgium and he offered to mix it in his basement in Nebraska. Then Conor Oberst became available to sing on one song.

M: Nebraska! What was that like?

TDB: It was a cultural shock for us. There was some strange behaviour in the way people have fun. It seems like every teenager gets his car when he's 16 and he's showing off on the main streets. And the bars there close at one, and for us that's unbelievable. In Belgium, the bars close when there's nobody inside.

M: And Quebec? Tourists find it very European, but -

TDB: - we've seen that, yes, we liked the ambiance. There are many warm and generous people. I was pleasantly surprised.

With the Arcade Fire and Wolf Parade at the Jupiter Room
on Saturday, April 12, 9pm, $10

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