Kristian North takes a break from the prolific noise-damaged art punk of Babysitter with this new solo project, which puts a sharper focus on hooks and lyrics. North calls "The Pessimist," which we're premiering below, "an homage to French pop, filtered through a post-golden age lens." I also hear a heavy dose of psychedelia and Leonard Cohen, though maybe that's just in the water in Montreal, where he recently relocated from Victoria.
"The Pessimist" delivers what the title promises, offering a sketch of someone for whom the video's gauzy sun filters and rose prisms don't quite fit over his tired eyes. But, you'll hear, maybe the pessimist is actually better off. It's an anthem for when "look on the bright side" fails, a "see the world for what it is and be happier for it" philosophy that easily fits our times, even if it doesn't quite sound like it.
"Making this record, New Sympathy, I was interested in this sort of dated futuristic sound, nostalgia for nostalgia," Kristian North tells Chart Attack. "Aesthetically, Maude Deslaurier's video reflects this, contrasting analogue and digital, Vegas and Montreal in the winter time. This contrast is something I was trying to achieve with the music."
If this moment is really all that we have, hit play.
PREMIERE: Kristian North takes off the rose-coloured glasses for “The Pessimist” by Richard Trapunski | Chart Attack.
