Pastel Blank Personifies the Habit on ‘Sweet Nic’ from Debut LP ‘Unmade in Minutes’
Montreal’s Pastel Blank is carving out a niche where the jittery spirit of 70s art-rock meets a very modern, very caffeinated brand of DIY.
After recently joining the Paper Bag Records roster, the Angus Watt-led project is rolling toward their debut LP, ‘Unmade in Minutes,’ arriving April 24. Today, we get a taste of the record’s eccentric heart with ‘Sweet Nic.’
The track was born from a moment of ill-advised nicotine consumption in a Victoria apartment. Watt set out to write about the habit without using the obvious vocabulary of the ashtray, turning a simple writing exercise into a character study of a personified addiction. It plays with the same “silly but sinister” energy found on Brian Eno’s early solo work. Musically, it’s all angular rhythms and clever shifts that back up those Talking Heads comparisons people like to throw around.
The accompanying video is where the absurd part of the equation really lands. Filmed on a busy day in East Vancouver, the band parades around as giant, menacing cigarette thugs. It’s a bit of high-concept theater that feels both polished and delightfully scrappy. It captures the specific balance of humor and sharp observation that makes Pastel Blank one of the more interesting acts coming out of the Montreal scene right now.
Check out the video for ‘Sweet Nic’ below.
Headline photo: Pastel Blank | Photo by Kenza Vandenbroeck
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