Skip to main content

Maverick Ad

Home

Main navigation

  • Home
  • Cover Stories
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Legacy Awards
  • Past Covers
  • Weekly Archive
Canadian Indie Pop Folk Duo In The City Remember the “Best Time” in New Single

Breadcrumb

  • Home
  • Canadian Indie Pop Folk Duo In The City Remember the “Best Time” in New Single
Canadian Indie Pop Folk Duo In The City Remember the “Best Time” in New Single
Fri Sep 21, 2018
Cashbox Canada

Sometimes, bad times help us remember better times. It's a circuitous path to happiness, to be sure. But it's the one taken by Toronto pop-folk duo In the City on their new single and video “Best Time” — available now.

Although it was inspired by the untimely and unexpected death of singer Ashley Jane's mother last year, the song — a preview of the pair's forthcoming concept EP MaryAnn — chooses to celebrate life rather than mourn a loss. "It's really a song that she's singing to my dad," explains Jane, who splits musical duties with multi-instrumentalist and studio whiz Timon Wientzek. "I was really grappling with the idea of grieving for someone you've lost and how you can get really swept up in the tragedy of it. It's really easy for that to become how you remember someone.

“But the storyteller in me was saying, 'No if your mom was still here, I think she'd tell all her friends and loved ones that she had the best time while she was here.’

“Our amazingly talented director came up with the concept,” she continues, speaking of “Best Time”s video and its director, Anna Maguire. The band plays throughout in front of projected home videos. “We wanted to create a video that celebrates life, both its everyday moments and big momentous occasions. The footage is from lots of different families. We received submissions from all over the world, and feel honoured to include these precious memories in our music video.”

The song's rich musical landscape mirrors the uplifting grace of the lyrics. Opening with a lone acoustic guitar, it seamlessly builds and expands to a rousing, widescreen two-step with fluttering mandolin, lush keyboards, handclaps and even trumpet flourishes — all topped by an endearing chorus buoyed by Jane's warm, sweetly trilling tones. Bold and ambitious, mature and dynamic, Best Time heralds the next stage in the autonomous young duo's rapid evolution as songwriters with exceptional chemistry and a unique approach.

They found that groove when they found each other some four years ago. Singer-songwriter and documentary story producer Jane was with a non-profit that empowered kids through music. Composer Wientzek worked in the studio where they were recording. Their backgrounds were diverse — she grew up twirling in a backyard skating rink as Joni Mitchell, the Rankin Family, Fleetwood Mac and Shania Twain blasted from outdoor speakers housed in Tupperware to thwart squirrels; he absorbed the sounds of everyone from Bon Jovi and Limp Bizkit to Radiohead and even Backstreet Boys ("I really enjoyed the production and the harmonies," he swears). Ultimately, their differences proved to be great strengths.

"Musically speaking, I come from more of a rock background," Wientzek says. "Ashley is more from a singer-songwriter background. But somehow they mesh well together into something that works. We have the sensibility to write sensitive material, but not make it overly cheesy, overly pop."

They made that apparent on their 2016 EP Changing Tides. Assembled in Wientzek's home studio, its beautiful melodies, emotionally resonant narratives and soft cinematic sonics won over the Canadian film and TV industry. Their music has been showcased on CBC's Heartland, Kim’s Convenience and Workin’ Moms, along with CTV’s Saving Hope, commercials and award-winning independent films. This summer, they undertook a songwriting residency with the Slaight Family Music Lab at the Canadian Film Centre. The multi-media approach has left them in a unique position: They've heard their songs on screen and online but not on radio. Still, the determinedly DIY duo are right where they want to be.

"It's been a weird thing," Jane says. "But I think it's just such an exciting time to be an artist because you can kind of make your own rules ... We do everything ourselves. We record ourselves, we produce the songs ourselves. It's the two of us in a room. There's so much autonomy we have with our sound and with the choices we make. And we're charting a course that feels unconventional — finding an online audience and doing things our way. Whatever road embraces us, we're going to run with it."

“Best Time” is available now.

www.weareinthecity.com

Features
Music
In The City
Month: Jul 2020
The Mega Festivals Are Over! Jul 10
BTW -Alvarez Kings, Sven Gali, The Texicana Mamas, Buju Banton, Skydiggers,… Jul 03
If You Would Like To Have A Chance To Be Successful You Need This! Jul 03
Frank Zappa Celebrates 50th Anniversary with New Unreleased 70-Song… Jul 03
Newly Remastered Releases Johnny Cash Mercury Recordings of Johnny Cash… Jul 03
Month: Jun 2020
KIM MITCHELL Returns With “The Big Fantasize”, His First Album In 13 Years… Jun 30
BTW -Micah Barnes, Midnight Shine, Sam Spiegel aka Sam I, JJ Wilde, Black… Jun 26
Why One Manager Thinks Artists Are The Scumbags Of The Music Industry Jun 26
Corey Hart Offers a New Updated Version “Never Surrender”as an Athem for… Jun 26
BTW - Cocktails, Bombay Bicycle Club, Mayflower Madame, The All Canadian… Jun 19
Judy Collins & The Global Virtual Choir Re-Release Her Version of “… Jun 19
Artie Pasquale of The Sopranos “Try the Impossible” Jun 19
The Technical Shortcuts You Should Avoid! Jun 19
DOWNCHILD Live Streaming Fundraiser Concert with Dan Aykroyd, Colin James &… Jun 16
BTW - This Week-NeroArgento, Paradas, Linda Carone, Julian Taylor, Melanie… Jun 12
Why The Industry is Not Answering Jun 12
The Magnettes American! Jun 12
BTW This Week-Band Ladies, St. Mars, Mike Janzen, Martha and the Muffins, The… Jun 05
You Must Love the Fools Jun 05
Micah Barnes Invites Us to Experience Vegas Breeze Jun 05

Pagination

  • First page « First
  • Previous page ‹ Previous
  • …
  • Page 41
  • Page 42
  • Page 43
  • Page 44
  • Current page 45
  • Page 46
  • Page 47
  • Page 48
  • Page 49
  • …
  • Next page Next ›
  • Last page Last »

CEO/PUBLISHER/EDITOR IN CHIEF
SANDY GRAHAM

email:sandygrahamemg@gmail.com 

Canadian Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Don Graham
email: dongrahamwriter@gmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada and Global
Lisa Hartt
email: lisahartt87@hotmail.com

Contributing Journalist - Canada 
Michael Williams
email: greydread@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

International Journalists:

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Malin Osth
email: malin@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - Sweden
Jonas Tancred
email: jonas@musicdays.se

Contributing Journalist - USA
Rob Durkee 
email: rockster2746@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Developer/Technical Support
Chris Wardman

email: info@chriswardman.com
website: chriswardman.com

Cashbox Cover Design and Graphic Artist
Jain McMillan

email: jainmcmillan@gmail.com

Contributing Photographer 
Tracey Savein - South Paw Productions
southpawproductions@rogers.com

 

 

 

Footer menu

  • Home
  • Features
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Cashbox Archive
  • Issue Archive
  • Past Covers