Hush Drift into Focus with New Single ‘Phasing’
The strength of Montreal’s psych community lies in its insularity, a tight-knit circuit where frequent cross-pollination refines the sound.
Hush is the latest reconfiguration of this lineage, a trio comprising Paige Barlow, Miles Dupire-Gagnon, and Gabriel Lambert, whose collective resumé includes stints in The Besnard Lakes, Elephant Stone, and Anemone. Ahead of a debut album for Simone Records later this year, the group has shared ‘Phasing,’ a track that leans heavily into the hypnagogic fringe of pop.
Where their previous output hinted at standard structural forms, ‘Phasing’ dissolves them. Produced by René Wilson with Dupire-Gagnon, the cut utilizes varispeed tape manipulation to achieve a specific kind of motion sickness. It’s a slow, sunward lurch that references the textures of 90s house and trip-hop without committing fully to the rhythm of either. The result is a soundscape that feels perpetually out of focus, mirroring the “stereoscopic blur” of the accompanying video directed by Barlow and Aabid Youssef.
Barlow’s vocal performance anchors this drift. She approaches the lyrics with a detachment that belies the anxiety of the subject matter, singing “I love you is just a phase” with a radiant, open clarity. It’s an exploration of the fragility of connection, questioning how much of our relationships exist in reality versus our own internal narratives.
Hush Website / Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / Bandcamp
Simone Records Website / Facebook / Instagram / X / YouTube / Bandcamp
