"and I'm walking like a movie"
Toronto based Moscow Apartment (aka singer songwriters Brighid Fry and Pascale Padilla) have been catching the buzz of fans and bloggers almost immediately since forming in 2017 and with good reason. Smart, emotional songwriting and the voices that are able to translate their words and melodies into moving works of sonic art seem effortless for these two young creatives.
I have reported on them in the past and their latest, New Girl, from their upcoming self produced "Better Daughter" EP (due to drop on July 10th, 2020) seems somehow different. The spartan indie affair that begins immediately with those wonderfully engaging voices feels more mature in some way. Maybe mature is the wrong word, maybe seasoned would be better. The production is brilliant in it's underplayed way, in it's nuanced understanding of the "economy of sound", of not using anything more than they need to. The chorus is incredibly pop smart and while it may be cliche to say that Moscow Apartment have, in this song (that was "fueled after enduring a particularly bad week of misogyny and catcalling"), put out something that feels like it was written and produced by someone years beyond their ages, it's absolutely true.
-Robb Donker Curtius
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Moscow Apartment: Here’s what you need to know
After their self titled EP was released in the Autumn of 2017, Moscow Apartment quickly went on to win accolades and awards across Canada. “Be You’”is the first single to follow their debut recording. The song is about the experience of meeting someone you don't know well and you get bad vibes from them. “Be You” is about learning to trust your gut instinct because it’s often right.
Moscow Apartment will debut their sophomore recording in early 2019 and will be sharing a number of singles throughout 2018 that showcase their evolution and preview what will come on their next release. The new material demonstrates a shift from “folk singer-songwriter” to a powerhouse of a indie-folk/rock group as Brighid Fry and Pascale Padilla are increasingly joined by backing band of Dov Beck-Levine and Melissa Paju. Moscow Apartment’s songs explore themes of adolescence, body image, ghosts, loneliness, suffocation in a big city and friendship. The songs convey the unique perspective of two strong, young women in the midst of adolescence. There is wisdom, vulnerability and depth in the songwriting which resulted in the teenage duo winning in the youth category for the Canadian Songwriting Competition.
Friends for years, having first met as members of Toronto's VIVA! Youth Singers, Brighid and Pascale launched Moscow Apartment early in 2017, taking their name from the caption in a book of photographs — a shot of an old poet inside his book filled Russian Apartment. Following an initial burst of creativity that's yet to slow, they went into the studio and recorded a debut EP with the support of an array of local musicians (Michael Louis Johnson from Lemon Bucket Orkestra, Anna Ruddick, Dani Nash, Chloe Doucet, Curtis Chaffey, Rizaldo Padilla). Samantha Martin helped to produce and Guillermo Subauste (Pacha Sound) to engineer the 5 song release.
As the young duo continued to gain speed, winning a Toronto Independent Music Award as well as a Canadian Folk Music award, 2017 culminated in their inclusion on the lineup for CBC’s Sounds of the Season, while 2018 has seen them make the top 100 in the CBC Searchlight contest, get play on NPR’s World Cafe, be listed in NOW magazine’s annual Artists to Watch series, embark on their first real mini tour to the East Coast, win more contests (including the 100,000 Slaight Music It’s Your Shot competition), announce a western Canada tour opening for Juno winners The Good Lovelies and land spots on lineups for high profile music festivals (CBC Music Festival and Camp Wavelength to name two). Moscow Apartment are managed by music veteran Jeff Rogers (previously with Pursuit of Happiness, Crash Test Dummies, Spiral Beach & currently managing Lowest of the Low and Wolf Saga). They recently signed with the APA Booking agency who have dozens of high profile artists on their roster including Billy Talent, Bruce Cockburn, Sarah Harmer, Kathleen Edwards and Lights.
Find out more about Moscow Apartment at www.moscowapartment.ca
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