Coincidence often results in something good. Once in a while, coincidence is called Nicolas, and is the guitarist of Plants and Animals. He wrote me that they were touring the United States with a band called Lost in the Trees, who would be playing in Montreal in a few days. Maybe we would enjoy filming them. I clicked play on their Myspace, and realised that I had been listening to their songs for the past three years. It’s impossible to forget the chords that have caught me by surprise.
We were supposed to find them in an apartment on Parc Avenue. It was raining; we stopped for a slice of pizza in a joint on the corner; we decided to deal with the weather. Neither we nor the musicians usually shy away from a drizzle, but with a string trio, it was out of the question. We’d have to film inside. The door opened and a dog jumped out – I’m afraid of dogs. The band was there, all 7 of them, in one of those typically Montreal apartments that I miss intensely. Percussion, violin, cellos, guitar, xylophone, tuba, accordion… 7 musicians, in a small apartment. It was a challenge, we decided, sent down by the gods of the Take Away Shows. Hearing, and then seeing, who played what and where, who sang, when, the chords, the shivers. Behind a door, I steadied my breath.
One more for the road before leaving, and I had tears in my eyes as the chords took off. Everyone was in the same room this time, like a performance, like a surprise. We opened the door, and wiping our feet we heard chords being plucked, followed by a ghostly chorus, a storyteller, chords so solemn. 7 musicians in a few square metres, who we were afraid of having disappear in the blink of an eye at the end of the tale.
Their new album, All Alone In An Empty House , will be released August 10.
myspace.com/lostinthetrees // lostinthetrees.com
Translated by Tara Dominguez
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