Lily Frost
Country of origin:
Canada
Type of music generally:
Generally guitar-based alternative pop
Status:
Most recent release Too Hot for Words (2015)
See also:
Lily Frost's site
Comparisons:
Sometimes i think of Edie Brickell, occasionally of Frente!, but mostly it's neither. Sometimes her voice has a bit of Kate Bush in it. (damon 6/00)
Covers/own material:
Own
General comments:
Lily Frost is Lindsey Davis, formerly of the Colorifics (which means little to me, but might to someone), backed by a band of guitarists and a percussionist. Their style is generally guitar-based alternative pop, with enough variation and interest (not to mention LD's wonderful, langorous voice) to make them really, really good. Good lyrics, often on the dark side but generally with a positive message. Some songs in French. (damon 6/00)
Comments on live performance:
so, lily frost is a female songwriter and vocalist (who also plays a mean tambourine :), backed by a band of three guys on electric guitars and one guy on drums. this to me doesn't quite sound like my kind of band right off the bat, but i didn't even have time to notice the heavy guitar emphasis before i was entranced.
she started out with a spoken intro, which i can't remember verbatim but which was basically about modern life as applied to the audience...ending with "you're cynical...and OVERSTIMULATED" (this last screamed over screaming guitars). throughout the intro one (or more, not sure) of the guitarists was making very interesting and semi-creepy metallic sounds with his guitar, which sounds turned up from time to time elsewhere in their performance as well.
then they launched into a funky song with no lyrics, just lily making vague noises (including giggles) into the microphone once in a while. seemed like it ought to be annoying, but it was really good...and helped keep the mystery going a little longer too, since you still really had no idea what she was going to be like once she started actually singing. i think that's a lot of what the whole intro was about...grabbing attention and keeping the audience guessing. and it worked; people really took notice.
they then played quite a mixed set—most of it could probably be safely classed as alternapop, but was nonetheless quite varied.... i'm trying to come up with genre descriptions or comparisons but i always have *such* a hard time with that. um...a lot of it seemed dark-ish; not depressing dark, just slightly on the dark side of neutral, which was probably mostly due to her vocals and the stage she set during the intro. there's something sort of...langorous, and sensual, about her, both in terms of vocals and stage presence. her voice is very smooth, and quite beautiful. the music ranged quite far, including some very groovy/funky songs, some more sparse and acoustic-like moments, some rather 'experimental' sounding like the intro, some more straghtforward guitar pop, one song, 'st. augustine', was done in a very spanish style; one, 'laure elaine', was in french (it seems she's from montreal, and more of her material is also in french).
not sure what else to say about her, except that i think she's definitely ecto-fodder. (damon 5/00)
Recommended first album:
Either is great, but Lunamarium has a slight advantage and is probably easier to find. (damon 6/00)
Recordings:
- Cosmicomic Country (1999)
- Lunamarium (2000)
- Situation (2004)
- Cine-Magique (2006)
- Flights of Fancy (Cine-Magique b-sides, 2006)
- Lily Swings (covers, c. 2008)
- Do What You Love (2012)
- Motherless Child (EP, 2014)
- Too Hot for Words (2015)
Cosmicomic Country
Release info:
1999—Trademark Records—TMCD-098
Availability:
Unknown; I found it secondhand in Vancouver. (damon 6/00)
Ecto priority:
Recommended. (damon 6/00)
Group members / guest artists:
Note: not clear from liner which are band members and which guests.Lindsey Frost Davis—vocals, guitar, percussion
Ben Labelle—guitar, harmonies
John Rule—drums
Chad Horton—guitar, harmonies
Annie Wilkinson—electric bass
Daniel Fazio—electric bass
Shawn Mrazek—drums
Anna Lumiere—fender rhodes
Luke Docet—guitar
Jorge Diaz—guitar, bass, bongos
Karen Graves—flute
Nettie Boulanger—accordion, harmonies
Mike Haider—guitar
Anne Duranceau—bowed double bass
Produced by:
Jamey Kosh—track 1
Lindsey Davis—tracks 2, 5, 8, 10
Derek Bird (CBC)—tracks 3, 6, 7, 9
Jorge Diaz—track 4
Comments:
listening to this cd i'm still of the opinion that it's very good stuff! and it does range all over the board...there's some lush guitar stuff, some getting close to country-ish (but on the good side :), and more. and what a great voice! (damon 5/00)
Lunamarium
Release info:
2000—Trademark Records—2-3339-1035-2
Re-released as 2001—Nettwerk—0-6700-30172-2-0
Availability:
See web site for availability
Ecto priority:
Recommended. (damon 6/00)
Group members:
Lily Frost—vocals, percussion, acoustic guitar
Chad Horton—electric and acoustic rhythm guitars, vocal harmonies
Nikolaus Friesen—drums, urban percussion, hand drums
Stefan Sigerson—bass, piano, percussion
Jon Anderson—lead guitar, e-bow, 12 string ricki
Luke Doucet—lead guitars, acoustic lead guitar, pedal steel
Guest artists:
Jamie Hovorka—trumpet
Nettie Boulanger—accordion
John Rule—drums
Annie Wilkinson—bass
Ben Labelle—electric guitar
John Wood—electric guitar
Emmerson Swinford—electric guitar
Jamie Muhoberac—mini moog, organ, synthesizer
Produced by:
Carmen Rizzo—tracks 1, 3, 4, 7, 10
Stefan Sigerson—tracks 2, 6, 8, 9
Jamey Kosh—track 5
Comments:
NOTE: Lily Frost was picked up by Nettwerk in 2001, and Lunamarium was re-released with rather ugly new cover artwork and touted as 'Lily Frost's Nettwerk debut'. Seems to be exactly the same CD, except with the addition of one more track from the first album at the end. (damon 10/01)
i'd like to once again put forward a hearty recommendation of lily frost. i found their latest release, lunamarium, which does have some overlap with cosmicomic country but also a lot of different material.
i've been listening and trying to find a more coherent way of describing what i like about them. so some miscellaneous thoughts:
instrumentally, it is mostly guitar based, though there's a lot of other stuff in there that wasn't in the live performance i saw. most of the arrangements are quite lush and layered to my ears...i'll hear the main note at any given moment, and then something else will sort of emerge from behind it. mostly quite acoustic. moments of beautiful clarity amidst the lushness. and some really neat sounds that add interest, like the sort of skittering whining sounds at the start of "who am i?"
stylistically they do range around quite a bit, as i've said previously, but perhaps not quite so much as i sensed at their live performance. still, the mix keeps it interesting. i think some of the music reminds me a bit of edie brickell or maybe slightly frente, but i have a hard time defining that, and it's also her voice. i guess i don't have a *lot* in my collection that i feel i could really compare it to, so that's the best i can do.
lindsey davis' vocals are really beautiful; that languid quality i mentioned before is definitely there—i think i've decided it's partly due to a certain effect that neile has mentioned in relation to susan court's vocal style: she'll sort of hit a note and slide off it a bit, or be just *very* slightly at odds with the music in a sort of thrilling way...hard to describe. in a few places her voice reminds me of kate bush's, especially in the first track, "who am i?", but in a few other places too. sometimes i hear a more languid edie brickell.
the lyrics really contribute to the overall mood, which is...hard to really put a finger on, but sort of "dark but rejoicing" to me. and there's that languidity. there's a sort of dark and dreamy effect, created by the combination of the vocals, the music, and the lyrics, that *really* works for me.
anyway, definitely recommended for anyone who finds the above ramblings sound even slightly interesting. i'd say both cosmicomic country and lunamarium are wonderful, and i'm glad i have both. lunamarium is probably the more polished of the two, though, and i'd recommend it just slightly more. (damon 5/00)
Cine-Magique
Release info:
2006—Aporia Records (PO Box 996 Stn F./ Toronto ONT M4Y 2N9/Canada)—APCD-025
Availability:
Wide
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Lily Frost—vocals, guitars, keys, percussion
José Miguel Contreras—guitars, organ, bass, drums, vocals, atmospherics
Jason Ball—wurlitzer, synth
Simone Grey—vocals
Guest artists:
Randy Lee—violins
Anne Bourne—cellos
Morgan Doctor—drums and percussion (6, 10)
Julia Seager-Scott—harp (2)
Mike Bégin—pedal steel (5, 7)
D.Y. and Stevie B—group vocal (11)
Comments:
Many of the songs have a cabaret or cabaret noir feel, but dark rock, tango, and 60s-style girl group music are also there. So in some ways it feels more like a collection of songs than a cohesive album. But there are some songs I really, really like, particularly the more theatrical ones like "Enchantment" and "Psychic Cat Fight." (JoAnn Whetsell)
Thanks to damon and JoAnn Whetsell for work on this entry.
