So, back in the 1960s, when Apollo 11 took off towards the Moon, every astronaut was given a cassette tape with songs to listen to on their incredible journey. Imagine putting that track list together – and not just from a stylistic point of view: back then it was no small feat to even get your hands on those recordings. NASA relied on one record executive to create these actual, physical mixtapes and there is a beautiful profile about Mr. Mickey Kapp and his thinking behind them in Vanity Fair, from 2018, as well as his charming obituary from July 2019 in the New York Times. What a guy! Six decades later during the Artemis II mission earlier this year, according to the NASA live blog the crew woke up every morning (whatever that means in space) by a song chosen by ground control – less pressure than on fair Mickey Kapp, I imagine.
Well anyway, it’s this type of grand emotional energy and planet encompassing sound that Montreal’s beautiful trio Bye Parula induce with their wonderful songs. It has not been reported whether their music was played to the astronauts on Artemis II but they are firmly positioning themselves for the next lunar mission with their exciting new album Something Out Of Nothing – to be released June 5th on the keen Secret City Records.
The record neatly showcases their unique and expansive talent to create warm pop melodies and catchy hooks, while clearly having a coherent story to tell. Attached below is their latest single Quand vient le soir. The album then comes as an LP of two sides: Songs to Listen to in a Standing Position and Songs to Listen to in a Sitting Position – which in terms of orbital listening pleasures does require a certain amount of gravity though I guess.
To celebrate the release, Bye Parula are set to play in London (2 June), Paris (3 June), Berlin (4 June), and Montreal (11 June). All info here.
In preparation for this, the three of them took some valuable time off their schedules to sit down for a photo-interview – so pull a chair, hit play and scroll through their visuals.
Where did it all begin?
Where are you now?
Where do you want to go?
What’s your process?
What’s key to your bond?
Where do you draw inspiration from?
Where do we go from here?
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The world of Bye Parula.
Their new album Something Out Of Nothing will be out June 5th – go see them live in London, Paris, Berlin and Montreal in June too. Get your tickets here.
Bye Parula are Loïc Calatayud-Sola, Sebastián Riquelme and Sergio D’Isanto. The record was produced by Robbie Kuster and mixed by Warren Spicer (Plants and Animals) with contributions by Elisapie, Adèle Trottier-Rivard of Bibi Club, Morgan Moore and François Lafontaine.
Try the album’s upright opener I Don’t Know, too, to grasp the full realm of Bye Parula.
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This photo-interview is part of an ongoing series since 2010 – check out the previous ones.
You can also find this track – and many more – on the frequently updated official Poule d’Or playlist – available on Apple Music and Spotify.
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Title photo by Marc André Dupaul, all other images courtesy of Bye Parula.
