After two years of working away, a Nanaimo band finally has an album of their own.
Last week, art rock band Gold and Shadow released their debut full-length album, Torch to iTunes.
“I think people can expect something that is really dynamic and really exciting,” said lead vocalist Dane Letourneau. “It has got a lot of variety on it.”
On Friday (Sept. 11), Gold and Shadow will be performing at the Vault Café as part of the Gold and Shadow 2015 tour, which promotes the new record.
The tour will take the band through eastern British Columbia, Alberta and into Saskatchewan.
“It is really refreshing to think that this record will reach more ears than just the hometown audience,” Letourneau said. “We definitely play to Nanaimo a lot and we are really excited to get outside of the city limits.”
<a href="http://goldandshadow.bandcamp.com/album/torch" _mce_href="http://goldandshadow.bandcamp.com/album/torch">TORCH by Gold &amp; Shadow</a>
Gold and Shadow’s debut album has two predominant themes, according to Letourneau.
“The record plays with two main themes, light and darkness,” Letourneau said. “The other is purification or redemption. It is this idea of struggling with various things, but needed, and realizing that there is a hope or light at the end of tunnel.”
Gold and Shadow was formed roughly six years ago after meeting at a church.
“We just ended up playing some music that I had been working on one night,” Letourneau said. “Then it kind of developed from there.”
Letourneau says that when drummer Wes Holmes joined the band four years ago everything changed.
“He and our bassist Jesse [Janzen] just kind of really hit it off and created this incredible rhythmic backbone that changed the whole course of what we did,” Letourneau said.
Although Torch is the Gold and Shadow’s debut record, its music was included on a 2012 Seva Canada charity album called, All Together Now, which also features songs by the Great Lake Swimmers.
Last month, Gold and Shadow released the music video for the new album’s single, Half Moon. The video was directed by Nanaimo photographer Matt Lineker and was filmed mostly in an abandoned warehouse in Duncan.
“It was his first-ever video but the guy is enormously talented and he did a fantastic job,” he said. “We had a blast. It was kind of like learning things for the first time all together.”
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Half Moon is a visual representation of Torch’s main lyrical themes. The video shows a moonstruck girl inside a warehouse confronting her fears.
“We wanted to do a very visual representation of the lyrical themes of the video,” Letourneau said. “The video plays with that theme as she explores these abandoned buildings and confronts these black clad dancers that represent her darker side.”
Gold and Shadow perform with The Stacks at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door.
The band will also perform at the Buzz Coffee House with the Morning Show on Saturday (Sept. 12) at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10. For more information, please visit www.goldandshadow.com.
Gold and Shadow Tour Dates09/11 NANAIMO - The Vault Cafe09/12 NANAIMO - Buzz Coffee House09/13 VANCOUVER - The Railway Club09/16 KELOWNA - Fernando's Pub09/18 CALGARY - Broken City09/19 EDMONTON - Mercury Room Yeg09/20 BANFF, ALTA. - Elk & Oarsman Pub and Grill09/22 SASKATOON - Capitol Music Club
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