Sure as every day will rise and the sun will set, the eve of summer sees the return of the Spring Pop Festival, a weekend of music, crafts, fun and games for beings of all ages, intrepidly organized every year by the folks at Pop Montreal. Amidst the crafts and designs at Puces Pop, the activities and workshops for the wee ones at Kids Pop, and an encore presentation of Socalled’s Sleepover party stands the event that I’ve most been waiting for, the launch of Esmerine’s third record, the stunning La Lechuza.

While much has been quiet on Esmerine’s western front for the better part of half a decade, this third album has sprung many a surprise, first and foremost in the composition of the band. Brought together by connections through their dear friend Lhasa de Sela, founders Rebecca Foon (Thee Silver Mount Zion) and Bruce Cawdron (Godspeed You! Black Emperor) now find themselves surrounded by harp-player Sarah Page and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Barr. As a quartet they bring to life a quasi-classical musical world, where the instrumental and vocal co-exist alongside the sounds of pop, folk and the unknown. Expertly laid to rest by the recording talents of Patrick Watson, La Lechuza will leave a hole in your heart.

Cellist Rebecca Foon answered a few of our questions.

Hour: How do you see the links, musical and otherwise, between the band now and its earlier incarnation?

Rebecca Foon: For us it feels like a continuum or a natural evolution. We are now a larger group with more ideas, and more instruments, being brought to the table. Sarah plays harp and dulcimer and Andrew plays drums, marimba, gamelan – these are very complimentary instruments to the melodic percussion foundations of Esmerine. But now we can develop arrangements much more in a context of live playing and group improvisation, which is really fun for us all. I suppose the main thing that has changed is that we have started to incorporate vocals on this record.

Hour: Can you compare and contrast the new record with its two predecessors?

Foon: The biggest change for this record is that we are now a quartet instead of a duo. The four of us had many unfinished ideas that we had been collaborating on with Lhasa, this record was a chance for us to continue working on these ideas together. Patrick Watson’s generosity and talent was an amazing contribution – we feel really honoured and grateful for all our friends who helped this record see the light of day.

Hour: What can we expect at the launch show?

Foon: Everybody who was on the record will be playing with us that night, including Patrick Watson, Colin Stetson, Sarah Neufeld, Robbie Kuster, Mishka Stein. Our friends Clea Minaker (light table, Feist) and Brad Todd will also be doing beautiful light table and video projections. We also will be playing songs from the first two records.

Esmerine

w/ Siskiyou

Spring Pop at Ukrainian Federation (5213 Hutchison)

June 4