TR/ST (previously known as Trust) is a Canadian
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
project of Robert Alfons. It was formed as a band in 2010 when Alfons met
Maya Postepski
Maya Alina Postepski is a Canadian musician and producer from Toronto. She has been making music for over ten years, best known as drummer of the electronic group, Austra. She is a prolific remix artist, DJ and she co-wrote and produced the 2012 a ...
of
Austra
Austra is an island on the border between Trøndelag and Nordland counties in Norway. The island is shared between the municipalities of Bindal, Leka, and Nærøysund. The highest point is the Romsskåla. The village of Årset lies on the ...
.
The project has spawned four albums so far: ''
TRST'' (2012), ''
Joyland'' (2014), ''
The Destroyer (Part 1)
''The Destroyer (Part 1)'' is the third studio album by Canadian electronic music project TR/ST, fronted by Robert Alfons. It is the first half of the two-part album with the same title. It was released on April 19, 2019 by Royal Mountain Records ...
'' and ''
The Destroyer (Part 2)'' (2019). Alfons has also produced remixes for
Feist,
Moby
Richard Melville Hall (born September 11, 1965), known professionally as Moby, is an American musician, songwriter, singer, producer, and animal rights activist. He has sold 20 million records worldwide. AllMusic considers him to be "among the ...
, Zhala and
Jonna Lee.
History
2010–2013: Formation and ''TRST''
Alfons and Postepski met in late 2009, started writing songs together,
and formed the band in January 2010,
insisting that they were more than just an Austra side project.
The band started out with
Sacred Bones Records
Sacred Bones Records is an American independent record label founded in 2007 and based in Brooklyn, New York. The label has released recordings from artists including Zola Jesus, David Lynch, John Carpenter, Blanck Mass, Crystal Stilts, Marissa ...
, releasing their debut single "Candy Walls" and "Bulbform" in 2011,
on the strength of the former, they were signed to record label Arts & Crafts in the same year.
They released their critically acclaimed debut album ''
TRST'' on 28 February 2012 on the Arts & Crafts label.
Critic Luis-Enrique Arrazola of the ''
National Post
The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...
'' said (of their Toronto release party), "Trust gave an outstanding performance proving that they're an act worthy of all the hype. With a set far past midnight, they're the perfect ending to a wild night in the city, taking you on a relentless trip through a set list dripping with sexual tension before winding down to the last pulses of the synthesizer."
Larry Fitzmaurice of ''
Pitchfork
A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves.
The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to th ...
'' rated the album 7.4 out of 10 saying "... I quite like Alfons' voice; it has a slithering, grimy quality to it that increases the raunch-factor on particularly dirty-sounding tracks like "Shoom" and "Bulbform", and when he struts his stuff on "Sulk" and "Dressed for Space", he sounds like the kind of personality-heavy singer indie culture's been hesitant to embrace over the last few years."
It was listed at number eight on
Insound
Insound was a discounted, online music store. Insound carried CD, vinyl, hard to find items, music accessories and merchandise. The company was located in New York, New York.
History
Insound was founded in 1998 by Christian Anthony, Matt Wishno ...
's Top Albums of 2012 and at number thirty-seven on ''
Under the Radars Top 50 Albums of 2012.
Soon after the release of the album Postepski left the band to focus on Austra's growing commitments and her own solo project 'Princess Century'.
2014–2015: ''Joyland''
![Trust live Durham 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Trust_live_Durham_2014.JPG)
''Joyland'' was released on 3 March 2014 by
Arts & Crafts. The album received generally favorable reviews. ''
MusicOMH
MusicOMH (stylized as musicOMH) is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B.
History
MusicOMH was founded and launched by ...
'' gave it a score 4 out of 5, describing the album as doing an "excellent job of sharpening and streamlining Trust’s sound into something even better than that displayed on the debut."
The album debuted at No. 12 on the ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Albums chart.
It was promoted by three singles: "Rescue, Mister" accompanied by a music video directed by Sabrina Ratté, "Capitol" with a music video directed by Will Joines, and "Are We Arc?" accompanied by a music video directed by Malcolm Pate.
On 13 March 2015, Alfons released the single "Slug".
2016–present: ''The Destroyer''
In Summer 2016, Robert Alfons confirmed that the upcoming third studio album was "being finished late last month". The album was set to be released in 2017 but the release date was delayed. The album was created in a 150-year-old farmhouse near the north of Toronto and in Los Angeles.
On 14 July 2017, Robert Alfons released "Bicep", the first single promoting the upcoming album. On 6 December 2017, the artist premiered music video for "Destroyer". The clip was directed by Justin Tyler Close and
Ryan Heffington
Ryan Heffington (born June 7, 1973) is an American dancer and choreographer based in Los Angeles. He was nominated for two Grammy Awards for choreographing the music videos for Arcade Fire's "We Exist" (2013) and Sia's "Chandelier" (2014), winning ...
In the following year, TR/ST collaborated with singer
ionnalee on the song "Harvest" for the album ''
Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten
''Everyone Afraid to Be Forgotten'' (stylised in all caps) is the third studio album by Swedish singer Jonna Lee. It is her first album under the moniker ionnalee. The album was released on 16 February 2018 via Lee's own record label To whom it ...
''.
On 5 February 2019, TR/ST released a video for the single "Gone" and announced an upcoming two-part album ''The Destroyer'', with a release date of 19 April 2019 for the first collection of songs, followed by three singles, "Unbleached", released in February "Grouch", released in March and "Colossal", released in April.
The record marked the return of former member Maya Postepski as a collaborator.
On 25 July 2019, Robert Alfons released the second single, "Iris", off his fourth studio album ''The Destroyer (Part 2)''. The track was produced by Alfons, mixed and additionally produced by Damian Taylor and live drums were played by Lia Braswell.
On the same day, the artist announced the release of the album, release date and artwork credits via
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
with the digital pre-order being available on
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
. The track was followed by other three singles: "Destroyer", officially released on 29 August 2019 and premiered on ''Flood Magazine'', "The Stain", released on 19 September 2019 and premiered on Magnetic, and "Cor", released on 10 October 2019 and teased on
YouTube
YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...
before the premiere. In contrast to the
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
sound and immediacy of ''The Destroyer'', follow up release ''The Destroyer (Part 2)'' is primarily a
dream pop
Dream pop (also typeset as dreampop) is a subgenre of alternative rock and neo-psychedelia that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions, and effects such as ...
and
ambient
Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to:
Music and sound
* Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds
* Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere
* ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby
* ...
album with arrangements that differ from earlier TR/ST releases.
Members
Current members
*Robert Alfons – music production, vocals
(2010-present)
Former members
*
Maya Postepski
Maya Alina Postepski is a Canadian musician and producer from Toronto. She has been making music for over ten years, best known as drummer of the electronic group, Austra. She is a prolific remix artist, DJ and she co-wrote and produced the 2012 a ...
– music production
(2010–2012), live drums
(2010–2012)
Current session/touring members
*Esther Blue – keyboards
(2013–present)
*Lia Braswell – drums
(2019–present)
Former session/touring members
*unknown name – keyboards
(2012)
*Anne Gauthier – drums
(2013–2018)
*
Maya Postepski
Maya Alina Postepski is a Canadian musician and producer from Toronto. She has been making music for over ten years, best known as drummer of the electronic group, Austra. She is a prolific remix artist, DJ and she co-wrote and produced the 2012 a ...
– session music production
(2017–2019), live keyboards
(2019)
Timeline
Robert Alfons (born 11 April 1987) is a Canadian singer, songwriter and record producer of TR/ST from
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
, Canada.
His voice has been described as "soul-piercing",
[ "sluggish"] and having a "slithering, grimy quality."
During live performances, Alfons is accompanied by Lia Braswell (before 2019, it was Anne Gauthier) and Esther Blue that play drums and keyboards respectively.
Discography
Studio albums
Singles
Guest appearances
Remixes
References
External links
*
TR/ST
on Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trust
Canadian musical duos
Canadian synthpop groups
Musical groups established in 2010
Musical groups from Toronto
2010 establishments in Ontario
Canadian dark wave musical groups
Electropop groups
Cold wave groups
Sacred Bones Records artists
Arts & Crafts Productions artists
Royal Mountain Records artists