Lovers' Gothic
Lovers' Gothic
May 10 /acronym records
Producers: Maïa Davies, Marcus Paquin, Erin Costelo, Andy Stochansky, TWIGG, Sarah MacDougall, Brandon Bliss, David Mohacsi.
Directed by Lisa Mann
For the past four years, the award-winning, Juno-nominated, SOCAN #1 bilingual Canadian songwriter, recording artist and producer Maïa Davies has been on an unwavering mission of deep musical and self-discovery.
Born in Montreal, Davies has devoted the vast majority of her life to the craft of music. Getting her start in the Warner Music signed folk band Ladies of the Canyon, she has released two solo albums in French and penned over 12 top ten commercial radio hits for Canadian music artists, including Mother Mother and Serena Ryder.
In 2019, following the dissolution of an intense but ultimately troubled relationship, Davies also left her role at a notable Toronto-based production house and decided to shed all geographical allegiances. Taking on a nomadic lifestyle, she began traveling across Canada and Europe, as well as spending time in California, reconnecting with talented friends and producing the kind of achingly honest music that can only be generated from a wound so painful it needs space and time to heal.
“Songs and writing are the best way that my body knows how to express pain,” Davies explains. “[The songs] helped me save and heal myself in multiple ways.”
In her travels, she would often find herself reaching out to old colleagues and relaying the familiar beats of her recent history. In doing so, she soon discovered the songs “just kind of flowed out of me. I didn't really have much control over it. They were like a coping mechanism for my emotions at a time when I felt really quite imprisoned by them.”
In recording studios across the country, she recorded these raw confessions, often enlisting her friends to lend a musical hand.
On a recent travel hiatus, Davies began listening back to the recordings and discovered she’s created a chronological storyboard of her emotional journey in song. For her upcoming releases, she’s collected the compositions that best encompass the visceral throughline between euphoria, heartache, abuse, self-actualization and acceptance - a concept she jokingly refers to as the stages of relationship grief.
Due out on Acronym/Universal, each new piano-driven offering instantly and intentionally recalls the incandescent baroque pop of Tori Amos and Kate Bush, as well as the Kafkaesque etherealness of Beach House.
Far from a sad laminate, her new body of work wistfully weaves elements of pop and classical into well-crafted motifs, tempering the sting with nostalgic melodies and buttery vocals.
Hers is a musical tale shared with empathy and composed with heart, as confessional as it is comforting in its intimacy and scope.
As Davies succinctly puts it: “It's about music, but it's ultimately about honest human communication.”
Maïa Davies is a bilingual, Juno and ECMA nominated producer, songwriter and recording artist from Montréal, Qc, Canada. Originally a founding member of Warner Music Canada group Ladies of the Canyon, Davies has a dozen top ten Canadian commercial radio hits to her name as a songwriter, is a SOCAN #1 songwriter award recipient, an ECMA nominee, an active member of the National Arts Centre’s Global Network of Female-Identifying Music Producers and is a committed supporter of women and women-based initiatives in the music industry. An accomplished musician and singer, she is one half of Montreal indie band Darkometro, and has lent her voice to many notable Canadian recordings as well, from The Dears, to Serena Ryder and Kevin Hearn. Davies resides in Montreal, Qc and has worked with artists and producers such as Serena Ryder, Mother Mother, Monster Truck, Jill Barber, Gus Van Go, One Bad Son, Carys, Mark Howard, Kinley Dowling, George Massenburg, Kevin Hearn, Philip Sayce, Colin Cripps, and more.
New single April 3rd, "Lift Me Up"
Upcoming shows:
May 7 - Canterbury Studios, Toronto - private industry album launch
May 10 - Centre PHI, Montreal
May 11 - National Arts Centre, Ottawa
May 23 - Trailside Music Hall, Charlottetown
May 31 TBA Halifax