Eric Chenaux: Warm Weather / Le Vieux Favori 4
Eat, Sleep, Repeat

Chenaux's perhaps best known for his output on the Montreal-based Constellation label, 2006's Dull Lights and 2008's Sloppy Ground. Despite being creations of same artist, the two tracks on this seven-inch vinyl single (both recorded and mixed in January 2009 at the Hotel2Tango studio) are about as contrasting as could be imagined, and thereby offer a snapshot of the man's many talents.

The opener “Warm Weather” is a wistful and subtly romantic ballad that's truly lovely. In this laid-back folk setting, Chenaux couples a hushed, fragile vocal filled with wry reminiscences (“We can dance to ballads out on your porch / People dance that way everyday / Someone once told me that's how love is made / And I see warm weather rollin' in”) with acoustic guitar finger-picking that gives the tune the feel of an old Mexican song. The acompanying instrumental, “Le Vieux Favori 4,” smudges electric guitar and melodica elements into what could pass for a decades-old exhumation of Celtic psychedelia, the off-kilter piece woozily wheezing in the light breeze as it dazedly intones semi-ecstatic melodies like a decrepit hurdy gurdy. Needless to say, it's worlds removed from the opening song yet in some bizarre manner feels like a natural partner to it.

March 2010