If you haven’t yet heard the catchy, rhythmic, single “Patience Phipps” from Jay Malinowski & The Deadcoast, have a listen to the lyric video. Then, get ready to go on a journey through their complete debut album Martel — a complex, hauntingly beautiful journey.
Martel is informed by the travels and experiences of Malinowski’s British ancestor Charles Martel, who lived during the eighteenth century and survived the Battle of Louisbourg to escape to Canada. “My grandfather made me aware of his stories and I was interested in documenting and researching them,” Malinowski explains. “I went through [Martel’s] notes and travelled to Cape Breton and talked to some of his ancestors there and formulated all of my findings into the album . . . it was a five year long process, but I’m very pleased with the final product.”
The debut album Martel features 18 tracks — with bonus gifts! The album is accompanied by an interactive website Who is Martel that features more audio goodies and some stunning visuals, and a graphic novel called Skulls & Bones (Letters From A Sailor To A Long Lost Granddaughter) that uses hand-drawn visuals to explore the songs on the album.
A graphic novel isn’t a typical accompaniment to a music album, but for Malinowski it was an obvious thing to produce. “I’m a huge fan of graphic novels. When I finished making the album and was telling people what the album was about, I realized that drawing a graphic novel would be a great way to re-create Martel’s experience for myself. I thought about Martel writing the letters and correlated the letters to songs on the album so I could give the reader the feeling of a recipient of the letters.” Malinowski hopes the all-encompassing “set” that comprises the album “will take people on an adventure through the eyes of two wanderers; one past and one present.”
For the final piece of the full-sensory Martel experience, catch Jay Malinowski & The Deadcoast on their “Meet Me at the Gate” Canadian tour, March 20 – April 5, 2014. Malinowski says that fans can expect a “re-creation of the record on stage,” with the musical stylings of his band The Deadcoast which features a string band, guitar for some “ambient sounds”, and piano. “We’re quite excited, we can’t wait for audiences to experience the live version of the album.”
Jay Malinowski & The Deadcoast will perform in Edmonton at The ARTery on Wednesday, March 26.
Photos by Victor Penner.
