Picastro - Become Secret

Since the release of their debut album ‘Red Your Blues’ in 2001, Toronto-based Picastro have continued to mine a rich seam of beautifully melancholic (and sometimes menacing) avant-folk / rock. Their fourth album, “Become Secret”, finds them on top form once again, with the familiar accompaniment of cello, acoustic guitar, drums and piano employed to great effect on songs that incorporate Eastern-European folk themes, bleak cinematic soundscapes and dark, unsettling pop. Front woman and songwriter Liz Hysen shares vocal duties on several songs with guest vocalists including Tony Dekker (Great Lake Swimmers), Brendan Massei (Viking Moses), Colleen Kinsella (Fire On Fire, Cerberus Shoal) and John McIntyre Lyrically, Hysen drew inspiration from a variety of sources, including Cormac McCarthy, Westerns and the Bible, as well as Antonioni’s film 'The Passenger'. (Hysen, an avid film buff who also makes Super 8 films as a hobby, says that the final album track, “The Stiff”, synchs up perfectly with the final scene of 'The Passenger'.)  The sleeve art, which was drawn by Josef Bolf, is based on The Temptation of St. Anthony. Press Quotes : “Picastro mine music from the most extreme intersection of beauty and melancholy.” –Pitchfork / “compelling, haunting vocals…. The beauty of the album unfurls slowly but surely” (4/5) - The Independent / “an often tragically beautiful album stuck between swoonsome melody and the black dogs of depression.”Rock Sound / “ "Red Your Blues can be bleak, but it's also beautiful.” (3/3 stars, - Pop CD of the Week) -Sunday Times UK / “heavy on doomy atmosphere, with violin, cello, piano and guitar all creating a sense of incipient menace that might well accompany the worst day of your life. Singer-songwriter Liz Hysen sounds like Nina Nastasia six feet under ... a beguiling way to spend some down time."  -Q Magazine. Track listing : Twilight Parting, A Dune A Doom, Pig & Sucker, Spilt Head, I Know My Time Now, Neva, Suttee, A Neck In The Desert, The Stiff

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