Friend of the Lonely is the artist name for Thierry Edouard of Montreal, Quebec. That band name reflects a lovely sentiment, and in fact Edouard says “it’s who I am, who I aspire to be (and) what I fear and embrace.” Edouard had dreamed of creating an album since he was 15 years old, and now ten years later his debut EP is titled in the moon. Edouard explains that the album title “is a reference to my French heritage, which is an expression used to describe someone who’s in a state of daydream; and then directly translated to English, which makes the title just uncanny enough to be kinda cool.”
Edouard is strongly influenced by female indie singer-songwriters (often British) while his guitar playing may show traces of John Mayer from when he grew up. Edouard also made a point of producing these songs entirely on his own, which was a sometimes difficult process. He often recorded songs two or three times until he felt they were right. For collaborators, he used the website Fiverr to locate drummers, backing singers and someone to mix the tracks. Edouard loves the fact that his players came from all over the world, including Italy, Vietnam, France and Serbia. Edouard himself sings and plays acoustic guitar along with electric guitar, bass and ukulele. His other players are Maja (vocals), Malek Potvin (harmonica), Francey Karema (drums), audiobyhugo (drums/mixing/mastering) and Nicholas Berg (mixing/mastering). Thematically this EP is about “acceptance, in a bittersweet way, of a given relationship.” “Hey Stupid” starts the collection literally outdoors, with chirping stereo birds and a wide-open feel to the acoustic guitar (which Edouard built himself while studying guitar in college). Aside from his obvious talent on guitar, Edouard has a beautiful singing voice: lower pitched with just a hint of a rough edge, effortlessly navigating the sweet melodies he’s written to sing his lyrics. Edouard explains that this song is about “making dumb decisions, like telling someone who's in a relationship that you have feelings for them, knowing full well they will not feel the same way, but doing it anyway; because the only way to move on from that person, and make peace with the fact you will never be together, is by telling them how you feel, even if that's a fucking stupid thing to do.” The amazing harmony vocals are by Maja from Serbia, who Edouard found on Fiverr. After all of Edouard’s written caveats, I was surprised at the professionalism and confidence of both the performances and recording quality of this track. “Not Everyday” is thematically similar to “Hey Stupid” but now features the online band that Edouard has put together, including Malek Potvin on lonesome harmonica. Edouard himself takes an easy acoustic solo, and his lead singing and harmonies are now pitched even lower for a rich, sonorous quality. This song was inspired by a real life relationship where Edouard’s partner winds up with someone else, and how that’s really okay. “How I Remember You” seems to start with a low, blustery wind, or maybe a muddy river. The drums are courtesy of audiobyhugo, and they are a little startling in this context. audiobyhugo also mixed this track and it’s got that modern, purposely gritty sound that moves Edourd’s song into a different era. Edouard also bathes his vocals in deep reverb with a clean, ringing electric guitar. I would never know this song and the previous two came from the same album! It’s noticeably longer at six minutes, and as Edouard explains: “It’s a song with many textures and it's all kind of hard to describe. The gist of it is, sometimes someone leaving your life is akin to trauma; and thinking about their future hurts beyond words, so to cope, you create an image of them set in the past that lives rent free in your mind to soothe your emotions.” It’s interesting to me that the theme of this song is quite similar to the previous two, while musically and sonically it’s very different. There are three distinct sections, including an extended guitar solo at the end. The final track “Song for the Lonely” brings the album full circle with both birds and a splashing river, as Edourd sings and plays a sweet ukulele. Edouard reveals that he went through 50 singers on Fiverr before landing on Maja from Serbia, and he’s so happy with her performance, he now wishes he’d muted his own vocals! That would certainly make for an interesting bonus track down the road, but the version here works beautifully. Lyrically it’s about “two loners that come together to be a little less lonely. I always thought about this song as a sort of a musical palate cleanser after the deep vibe that was the previous song.” If Edouard is still feeling any crisis of confidence about his own musical or recording abilities, this short but enchanting EP should put that to rest. Can’t wait to see where he goes from here!
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