art rock
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...
band from
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
The Globe and Mail
''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
''. Retrieved April 17, 2014. The third of those, 2013's ''Warring'', was nominated for a
Juno Award
The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
for
Alternative Album of the Year
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
's ''
Pride and Prejudice
''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...
'', first began as the two-piece project of Jason Couse and Wes Marskell in Etobicoke, Ontario which gradually transitioned into a full band in Halifax, Nova Scotia with the additions of Dave Hurlow and Kirby Best. In December 2007, The Darcys’ debut album, Endless Water, was released. In the years following, the group returned to Toronto, and Michael le Riche was added to the lineup.
Days before their 2010 CMW showcase, Best had left the band, forcing them to frantically re-create the work of five into parts for four. This brought about the solidification of the current four-piece lineup: Jason Couse, Wes Marskell, Michael le Riche, and Dave Hurlow. On losing Best and adding Couse on vocals, Marskell notes, "We became really close friends because of it, and it also made us willing and able to work through things that came up later down the line that became publicized and were difficult for us internally." In the process of touring and recording their 2011 follow-up album amidst lineup changes, The Darcys continued to encounter hardships. This included stolen equipment, being held at knifepoint, and nearly losing their lives to a head-on collision on an icy road.
2011: ''The Darcys'' (self-titled)
Despite the release of Endless Water, the band will argue that their "true" first release came in 2011 with their self-titled Arts & Crafts debut, which marked the first of a three-record deal with the Toronto label responsible for prominent Canadian acts such as
Broken Social Scene
Broken Social Scene is a Canadians, Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Cannin ...
and Feist. The 10-track release received production from
Murray Lightburn
Murray A. Lightburn is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for The Dears.
Lightburn has been called "the black Morrissey" due to his vocal similarity (and shared penchant for somewhat dark lyrics) to the ...
of
The Dears
The Dears are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The band is led by the husband-and-wife duo of singer-guitarist Murray Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak.
History
The band formed in 1995 and released their first album, ...
and was mixed by Dave Schiffman (Rage Against The Machine, Weezer). The album was offered as a free download on the band's website, drawing many comparisons to
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
for its "lushly layered, lightly proggy arrangements." A music video was released for the album's second track, "Don't Bleed Me".
2012: ''AJA''
Only months after releasing their self-titled album, The Darcys released their interpretation of
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band founded in 1971 in New York by Walter Becker (guitars, bass, backing vocals) and Donald Fagen (keyboards, lead vocals). Initially the band had a stable lineup, but in 1974, Becker and Fagen retired from live ...
’s 1977 release ''Aja''. As Marskell mentions, the choice to cover the entire album "existed solely to redirect conversation" surrounding the band's self-titled release. The release gained much criticism for recreating an album that "cannot be duplicated or reinterpreted", while also receiving praise for being ‘compelling’ and bringing out the ‘dark-hued’ nature of the lyrical content. On November 11, 2012, the band presented ‘An Interpretation Of Steely Dan's Aja’ live at Toronto's historic Lee's Palace. A mini documentary was made by Adrian Vieni of Wood & Wires Productions, discussing the decision to re-imagine the album with interviews and live footage. A music video was also released for the track ‘Josie’.
2013: ''Warring''
In late 2013, The Darcys delivered the third installment of a three album series with Warring. The band discussed accomplishing the album in a statement explaining: "It's learning in motion. Competition and survival, letting go to persevere. It is anxiety about the future and the triumph of life in the moment. It's victory on will alone, the force that eradicates failure as an option." The album is strongly influenced by the work of American novelist
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...
, specifically his book
Blood Meridian
''Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West'' is a 1985 epic novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, classified under the Western, or sometimes the anti-Western, genre. McCarthy's fifth book, it was published by Random House.
In a l ...
, which can be seen through the lyrical content. The 10-track album features artwork done by Toronto artist/graphic designer Sara Cwynar, as well as production from Tom McFall (
Stars
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night, but their immense distances from Earth ma ...
) and mixing from previous contributor, Dave Schiffman. Six music videos have been released to accompany the tracks ‘Pretty Girls’, ‘Itchy Blood’, ‘The River’, ‘Hunting’, ‘The Pacific Theatre’ and ‘Horses Fell’ from the album. ''Warring'' marked the band's first
Juno
Juno commonly refers to:
*Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods
*Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007
Juno may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters
*Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno''
*Ju ...
nomination in 2014 for
Alternative Album of the Year
Alternative or alternate may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki''
* ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film
* ''The Alternative ...
, and also earned a spot on the
2014 Polaris Music Prize The 2014 edition of the Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on September 22, 2014 at The Carlu event theatre in Toronto, Ontario.
2013-2014: Play In School Campaign and "Hymn For A Missing Girl"
The Darcys embarked on their Play in School campaign in November 2013, to support the continuation of public school music programs and engage youths in embracing the importance of the arts as a part of their development. The band was turned on to the idea when the
Toronto District School Board
The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), formerly known as English-language Public District School Board No. 12 prior to 1999, is the English-language public-secular school board for Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The minority public-secular franco ...
intended to cut its musical programs, in addition to receiving countless messages from young fans who were unable to attend their mainly 19+ shows. This campaign has enabled The Darcys to visit multiple high schools across Southern Ontario with the intention of encouraging students nationwide to "hold their school boards accountable to maintain and develop music programs."
In celebration of
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...
, The Darcys released "Hymn for a Missing Girl" in 2014 as an epilogue to ''Warring''. The 22-minute instrumental, split into five movements, continues the trend of its predecessor with inspiration being drawn from
Cormac McCarthy
Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his gr ...
’s '' Cities of the Plain''. The track was released online, though it was limited to 500 vinyl copies in North America.
The band has also released the track "Ultra Violet", a bonus track from the recording sessions of the 2013 album. In addition to working on a follow-up to ''Warring'' and touring rigorously, Marskell has been contributing to
The Huffington Post
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
by occasionally writing articles for their Canada Music section, mainly recounting The Darcys’ tour experiences.
2014-present: duo and ''Centerfold''
On December 17, 2014, The Darcys announced the band will be going forward as a duo consisting of founding members Jason Couse and Wes Marskell.
On August 10, 2016, The Darcys announced their new album, ''Centerfold'', would be released on November 4, 2016. The album is said to be a drastic shift in sound from the band's previous records.
The Darcys planned to release a cover of
Mariah Carey
Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...
's " All I Want for Christmas is You" in December 2016.
The Darcys were in the line-up for the Wayhome summer 2017 music festival in
Oro-Medonte
Oro-Medonte is a township in south-central Ontario, Canada, on the northwestern shores of Lake Simcoe in Simcoe County.
The two neighbouring townships of Oro and Medonte were merged in 1994, under a restructuring of Simcoe County. It is divide ...
, Ontario.
The Darcys were in the line-up on the headline stage for the Wintersong 2022 music festival in
Stouffville
Stouffville () is the primary urban area within the town of Whitchurch-Stouffville in York Region, Ontario, Canada. It is situated within the Greater Toronto Area and the inner ring of the Golden Horseshoe. The urban area is centred at the inter ...
*2014 – ''Hymn For A Missing Girl''
*2017 – ''Another Log on the Fire''
Singles
*2010 – House Built Around Your Voice 7
*2013 – The River
*2016 – Miracle
*2016 – Coming Up For Air
*2016 – Arizona Hwy
*2018 – Just Here With My Friends (feat. Leah Fay)
*2018 – Chasing the Fall
*2019 – Ocean Eyes (Billie Eilish Cover)
*2019 – Hurt
*2019 – Hurt - Piano Version
*2019 – Better Days
*2019 – Melodramatic
*2020 – Boys Don't / Change
*2020 – Look Me in the Eyes
*2020 – Off the Deep