LISTEN TO “PATIO MONDAY” NOW
VETERAN HULL QUEBEC ‘FREE-PUNKS’ RELEASE 2ND LP
FEBRUARY 25 VIA BOILED RECORDS
"FET.NAT is basically constructing their own language" - Toronto Star
“FET.NAT is one of the best kept secrets, quite simply a major force of music" - La Presse
"A marvel that fearless creativity can lead to undeniable originality." - The Line of Best Fit
"So much fun that it was spilling out over the all-smiling crowd in waves." - Exclaim!
Le Mal Album Art // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Since founding in 2010, FET.NAT has created a world of unclassifiable music that crosses leftfield punk, trip-hop, free jazz and afrobeat against a backdrop of absurdist humour and the Rock In Opposition movement. The veteran Hull, Quebec, band – led by the franglais poetics of JFNO, Pierre-Luc Clément on guitars, Linsey Wellman on saxophone, and Olivier Fairfield (Last Ex, Timber Timbre, Andy Shauf) on drums – makes its name on fiery live performances that are a clash of maniacal theatrics and confounding musicianship. Now, FET.NAT announces Le Mal, a stunning document that connects this transcendent live energy to the near surgical precision of their recording vision. Today’s first glimpse – “Patio Monday” – features scuttling rhythm & bass, sax dubs, beat-riddled poetry, and a beyond infectious vocal refrain from another dimension.
STREAM & SHARE “PATIO MONDAY” NOW
On Le Mal, FET.NAT delves into its own upside-down world. An illusory mirror image, the album is comprised of two sides, one containing MIDI interpretations of the other. The result is a full-player of discernible variety, with JFNO’s warped poetry whisper-shouting familiar but differing tales. Underscored by instrumentals of menacing restraint, with hushed electronics, and flashes of shattered polyrhythm, Le Mal captures a fleeting moment of dire elation: a snapshot of a band nesting precariously on a bomb of potential energy. Their seventh release – first since 2017’s Gaoler EP – and second full-length – first since 2014’s Poule Mange Poule – revels in the murkiness of machines and poetry, as its halves consume one another.
PRE-ORDER LE MAL LP ON 12” VINYL
Written by all four members, Le Mal’s nine tracks were arranged by Clément and Fairfield at their home studios in Hull in summer 2018. There, the sonic personality of the record came to life, with the technical blueprint yielding the fluid path of the record.
Clément explains: “The MIDI concept was designed as an experimental trilogy, to try to extract ourselves from our own musical equation in three steps: step one being side A’s electric instruments, and step two being side B being MIDI refractions. The third step will be full erasure, happening only at the end of the existence of FET.NAT.”
JFNO says: “The way we worked on this record makes it special because I freely let PL and Oli do whatever they want with the lyrics, which was more like a résumé of poetry. Rarely have I seen this type of shared trust and ethic between writers and musicians. By letting go, it made la suite des choses very interesting and unique.”
Le Mal will be released February 25, 2019 on Toronto-Philadelphia label Boiled Records in vinyl and digital formats. FET.NAT will mark its release with shows throughout Ontario and Quebec in February and March, including dates with Absolutely Free.
LE MAL TRACK-LIST:
1. Tapis
2. Patio Monday
3. Des Fois
4. Soft Purse
5. Your World Is My Mystery Gift
6. Tapis d’Orient
7. Patio Tuesday
8. Des Fois II
9. Your World Is My Mystery Gift II
TOUR DATES:
Feb 28 - Toronto ON - Feast in the East w/ Absolutely Free, Badge Epoque
Mar 01 - Guelph ON - E Bar
Mar 02 - Hull QC - Petit Chicago
Mar 22 - Montreal QC - St-Edouard Church w/ Absolutely Free
Mar 23 - Quebec QC - Pantoum - w/ Absolutely Free
