Brightest Young Things

It is Friday morning, you're tired, dehydrated (or was it hungover?) and you need something fresh and crisp and light to wrap around your eardrums while you await that coffee/orange juice/tylenol combo to kick in? Well, allow me to me introduce you to Elfin Saddle. They're Canadian (who isn't these days?) and they make weirdly and soothingly beautiful folk music with sprinkles of Japanese experimentalness on top (but its ok, since one of them actually IS Japanese). Its just what the doctor ordered: a secret chant to make you feel ALL BETTER. With banjos and xylophones and ukuleles on top. Their second album is out now on Constellation and if you like what you hear below know that you can see it all come together live this Sunday as they open for Sunset Rubdown at the Cat.

Sakura

In Japanese. An ode to the intense drama of natural cycles, in this case the cherry blossom (very symbolic in traditional Japanese culture). The banjo has an elastic band around one of the frets to
give it a sparkly brightness. Quiet growth becomes powerful flower.

Muskeg Parade

This song was written really quickly and spontaneously. I had just come back from a trip to northern Canadian swamplands in the James Bay region, known as Muskeg. The landscape there is an amazing
juxtaposition between barren flatness and lush growth. Pretty inhospitable. Somehow it came out sounding like a parade.

The Living Light

An ode to the sun, our most ancient god. The force of life that we depend on absolutely, yet often disregard. Montreal winters can really push you to appreciate it. After spending a week indoors, or dodging blizzards, just feeling the sun on your face can feel incredible.

Want more:
http://www.myspace.com/elfinsaddle and catch them open live for Sunset Rubdown this Sunday at the Black Cat.