Riches is the manifestation of an ongoing dialogue between Catherine McCandless, lead singer of Montreal, Quebec’s Young Galaxy, and choreographer Wynn Holmes. Riches shares ‘Fantasy Chapel,’ the title track of their forthcoming new album, set for release on September 25th. Pre-order on Bandcamp now.
‘Fantasy Chapel’ is about how devotion to our work’s practices and rituals can create a place, a form, a structure. The lyrics are largely inspired by American artist Kiki Smith’s body of work. Her exploration of themes of the natural world, feminism, religion, folklore, the human body, historical and fictional female characters, as well as the evocation of transformative spaces, are all elements of the pastoral but dark setting of the narrative of this soundtrack.
Musically, ‘Fantasy Chapel’ features samples from Luboš Fišer’s soundtrack of the 1970 Czechoslovakian new wave film Valerie And Her Week Of Wonders. Riches were drawn in by images and scenes of the film found online, while researching fantasy and horror films. The soundtrack is very beautiful and dream-like, featuring sounds of the environment and everyday life, as well as pastoral, timeless musical passages. The samples fit seamlessly, helping achieve the stateliness and religiosity Riches wanted to achieve in the song.
Fantasy Chapel Tracklist
1. More Alive Than Ever
2. Threshold 1
3. Fantasy Chapel
4. God Swatter
5. She
6. Threshold 2
7. Eyes Open But Not Looking
8. Thief In Your Eye
9. Threshold 3
10. Lily
11. Threshold 4
12. Nakedness
13. Threshold 5
14. Sent Down
The production of Fantasy Chapel LP was a collective effort between Holmes and McCandless, with help from Stephen Ramsay (Young Galaxy, Light Conductor) and Jace Lasek (Besnard Lakes, Light Conductor) as well.
The bulk of recording developed quickly between the summer and winter of 2019, when Riches met for a series of writing and recording sessions at McCandless’ home and studio in Montreal. Finishing right before the lockdown, Fantasy Chapel was mixed by Jace Lasek at Breakglass Studio the week everything began to shut down.
Stay tuned for more from Fantasy Chapel, the soundtrack to an imaginary horror film.
