Sorauren Cold // Broadview Hifi consists of two tracks I recorded in downtown Toronto in 2013 and 2014. Each were recorded in cold parts of the year, inspired by night-time street wandering while listening to music through headphones.
“Sorauren Cold” features eerie vocals from my good friend and talented vocalist Ruby Randall, who is now leading a new band of her own called Beau; you can check out one of their tracks on Soundcloud here that was produced by two talented Toronto artists and friends Lum and Trevor and Ever (who also was a part of my remix EP Variations released back in 2012). “Sorauren Cold” was directly influenced by an emtpy warehouse I used to pass on my bike everyday on my way home from work, which was covered in graffiti and totally delapidated despite being set amongst some of Toronto’s most expensive real estate. Having three friends who were arrested years ago for “urban exploration”, I tried to create a track here that evoked the same emotion as exploring that abandoned building on a dark winter night.
“Broadview Hifi”, the newer of the two tracks, was originally recorded as a remix for Nonus’ “Ophelia” EP which is out in January 2015. Blendwerk decided to use a second remix I created, and this track had no home. While it uses synth samples from Nonus’ original, I also created this track to be listened to in the context of being outdoors at night on a cold evening. I live near a street that has a point overlooking Toronto’s Don Valley, which is one of the few under-developed parts remaning in the city, and unfortunately also once was a magnet for suicide through people jumping off of the Bloor-Danforth bridge. While the Valley retains undeniable beauty despite the hundreds of thousands of cars that pass through it each day, the dissonance created by the Valley’s natural beauty mashed amongst the hoards of commuters and stress of Toronto’s working world create an odd experience in the mind when a person tries to simply enjoy the Valley’s surroundings. “Broadview Hifi” attempts to reflect how I feel when viewing the Valley and its associated highways from the look-out point on this street.