​Syzzors Finally Release Their Moody and Majestic Second EP, 'Leo'

On May 14 Syzzors, the Montreal-based trio with a flair for making dark, sultry electro-pop, finally released their latest EP Leo—two years after their debut Collage EP. Self-described as a "maxi EP", Leo is rich with carefully produced live elements and hypnotic bass lines. Raphaelle Chouinard's graceful vocals underscore the tight composition of each track and deliver an overall poetic, dreamy quality to the work.

Leo was a long time in the making for Syzzors. Although it was written over a year ago during a seven-day trip to a cabin north of Montreal, the album was completely—and painstakingly—reworked prior to its release. After all the tracks had been written and composed, the band spent a week at Studio 114 with Simon Levesque, CRi, and studio engineer Francois-Pierre Lue fine-tuning the recordings. But the time they spent up north together was the true catalyst for the album, allowing the band to focus on their music and composition.

"We would wake up, have breakfast and play music until the sun set," says Raphaelle Chouinard, one of the vocalists in the band. "The songs evolved over the year, allowing us to work on every single detail of each song. As a result we're really proud of them. It's been a long process of work."

Originally a collaboration between childhood friends Chouinard and Gabriel Tremblay, Syzzors released their first EP Collage in May 2013. The two came together after creating the track "That G Word" for a school project, which later became their very successful first release.

"That first song was a school project and then it became more and more serious, and here we are with this sick drummer and two EPs," says Chouinard.

Lisandre Bourdage joined the group shortly before the beginnings of Leo, after meeting Chouinard and Tremblay through mutual friends. After a few jam sessions together, they all knew it was a perfect match. Her skill brings a sharpness to their releases and a greater emphasis on composition that adds a new maturity to their tracks.

Bringing Bourdage on board meant that their creative process had to change, which was both a challenge and a treat for Chouinard and Tremblay. "For our other EP, it started with me and Gabriel sending each other basslines or guitar loops, kind of working on parts of the song on our own, and then meeting up to record the live vocals…that's kind of how we did the first record, really DIY," explains Chouinard. "Now with Lisandre on board, it's more about getting together, setting out chords and then jamming over them and seeing where it leads."

The new dynamic of the band has made them more sensitive to one another. Jamming together requires a synchronicity that is thrown off when they butt heads or are just simply having a bad day. "Whatever you bring to the jam space affects everyone. We each know when the other has had a bad day and we just need to shut up," says Tremblay. "It's important to spend time together where the subject isn't only about music. When you see each other only for work, it becomes really intense. We're three different people with three strong personalities, we need to learn how to be friends as well as artists."

To celebrate the release of Leo, the band recently held a show at Le Belmont in Montreal. That evenings inclusion of a new bassist added a warmer, more organic quality to the performance. Their live performances have always been an interesting, and carefully orchestrated, experiment with acoustic elements and synthesizers. For Syzzors, it's often the most challenging.

"Some songs you just can't play on a keyboard, so you have to find some way of making it. Maybe you have to sample, or if you use backtracks to your outputs, you have to make sure you don't make it seem like you're just doing karaoke to your own work," says Tremblay. "We never want to be one of those bands."

Difficulties aside, they love how these new arrangements delve them deeper into their music. "You always find new things in your music. One time we were asked to do more of a reduced, acoustic set—and we're definitely not an acoustic band—and we just stumbled onto this complete other way to play the song," says Chouinard. "Sometimes when you have this challenge and you're given a box to work in, that's when you come up with the best ideas."

Syzzors live tour in Toronto and Montreal may be over, but catch them on July 24 at Divan Orange alongside About band as part of Montreal Festival Electronique Groove.

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