ANCHORS
01 Anchors (feat. Joseph Shabason)
02 Endless Waves (feat. Sylvie Smith & Jon Hynes)
03 Guava
04 Days of Us (feat. Sylvie Smith)
beach trilogy
05 Puerto Viejo (feat. Sara Austin)
06 El Matador (feat. Jonathan Pearce)
07 Barceloneta
08 Monumental (Barbarian Days)
09 Reverence
10 Resistence (feat. Sylvie Smith)
11 Acceptance (feat. Gold Bonds, Jazmine Wykes, Julien Dussault)
12 Rodes (feat. Gianna Lauren)
An album almost abandoned
Drummer Pat Johnson and vocalist Rolf-Carlos Klausener formed SILKKEN in the fervour of Ottawa’s underground arts explosion of 2011. Over a few short years, the band became synonymous around town for wild live shows, hosting warehouse parties, and rallying the community in their music videos. They also shared the stage with The Juan Maclean, Austra, Bonobo, YACHT, among others.
Along with a slew of local guests, the band released their ecstatic debut ‘Not Forever Enough’ in 2014. They began writing for their sophomore album in 2015, with Klausener penning nascent lyrics in Los Angeles, Costa Rica, Barcelona, Toronto, and Ottawa. By 2017, personal shifts saw the band’s energy wane. To boot, the community that had fuelled and inspired the band was splintering. The album was essentially abandoned in 2018.
Together Apart
As the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, Klausener found inspiration in his community’s communal sense of isolation, and how individuals found ways to both escape, and accept, their changed world: communing with nature, taking pause, taking stock, reevaluating their friendships and work.
He spent Summer 2020 revisiting the album and completing unfinished tracks with help from friends from around the country. The album was mixed by longtime collaborator Jarrett Bartlett, with Phil Bova (Bahamas, Feist) mastering ANCHORS at the end of the season.
CREDITS
WRITTEN IN
Los Angeles – USA
Puerto Viejo – Costa Rica
Barcelona – Spain
Toronto + Ottawa – Canada
MUSIC BY
Pat Johnson (drums), Rolf Carlos (vocals, guitar, keys, programming), and Martin Charbonneau (bass, keys)
with Sylvie Smith (vocals), Joseph Shabason (saxophone), Jon Hynes (guitars), Sara Austin (vocals), Jonathan Pearce (vocals), Jazmine Wykes (vocals), Gold Bonds (vocals), Julien Dussault (guitars), Gianna Lauren (vocals)
LYRICS BY
Rolf-Carlos Klausener
with Sylvie Smith (1,2,4,10)
RECORDING
Original demos recorded in Calabogie ON, May 2015.
Bed tracks recorded at Little Bullhorn Prods, Ottawa ON by Seb Perry, July 2017.
Vocals and additional instrumentation recorded at Chalet 5 à 7, Ottawa ON by Rolf Carlos
Saxophone on #1 recorded at home in Toronto ON by Joseph Shabason
Drums on #11, guitars on #8 recorded at 50 Park Avenue, Ottawa ON by Rolf Carlos & Martin Charbonneau
Sara Austin’s vocals on #6 recorded at home in Summerside PEI by Sara Austin
Sylvie Smith’s vocals on #4 and #10 recorded at The Loft, Toronto ON by Rolf Carlos
Piano on #10, vocals on #8 recorded at The Sparrow’s Nest, Toronto ON by Rolf Carlos
Guitars on #2 recorded in Nepean ON by Jon Hynes
Gianna Lauren’s vocals on #12 recorded at Ocean Floor Studio, Halifax NS by Charles Austin
Artwork by Nicole Tarasick, Toronto ON / www.nicoletarasick.com
Mixed by Jarrett Bartlett
Associate Producers: Matt Tamblyn, Sylvie Smith, Jarrett Bartlett
Produced by Palm Dust
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the City of Ottawa, without which this project would not have been possible. Thank you.