The ivory hours according to the Ivory Hours are that milky serene time when the moon and stars are brightest, the time of dreaming and of infinite imaginings.
Expect a lot of moonlight swoon bright pop when the Toronto three-piece play the Moustache Club here in Oshawa May 13 2017. Ivory Hours are touring their new album, Dreamland, due for release June 10th.
The record follows their debut "Morning Light" from 2015 and the track "Warpaint" - it earned them The Edge’s Next Big Thing win and the win for Canada’s Walk Of Fame Emerging Artist Music Mentorship Program. There has been a change in members, Ivory Hours is now Luke Roes, Chris Levesque and Thomas Perquin and they draw from many influences, from Metric to the Arctic Monkeys.
“'Play Me' was very influenced by the Arctic Monkeys' last record. I may be wrong, but I feel like some of their songs were inspired by Dr. Dre beats, and his records are a benchmark for me when it comes to the simplicity & weight of a beat. In addition to Metric, I'm a fan of the Strokes, Band of Horses, Queens of the Stone Age, Muse, Phoenix, lots more. . . I listen to people like Paul Simon, Ray Lamontagne, Andy Shauf for lyrical inspiration. I'm pretty open minded now when it comes to music and I pull a little something from everything that catches my ear.”
That little of everything is explored on the album. They wanted Dreamland to sound “atmospheric, inviting, sometimes challenging & melancholy, other times soothing and joyful,” while lyrically expressing the search for universal ideals as well as personal growth from life lessons, both good and bad..
“The name Dreamworld may sound idealistic, but I didn't set out to frame the world as a perfect place. Dreams can be wonderful & transcendent but they can also be terrifying. I think the sentiment of that song and the album is that even in the face of adversity we can find beauty if we look for it. It's about optimism without naïveté, finding imaginative ways to overcome problems both in ourselves and out in the world.”
The room to imagine is the stuff of dreams both sleeping and wide awake, but one person’s dream can result in another’s nightmare, even the dreamy life of a road musician has its bumps and chumps.
"There are a few negative experiences on the road but overall it's exciting and inspiring. We meet really talented & passionate people and you get a lot of opportunities to challenge your perspective.”
Challenge your own views and give them a spin, I’ll vouch for the track “Limbo.”