Dive into a melodic Poolside Fantasy
Ottawa band Noise Hotel’s debut album
As September settles upon the prairie provinces, the 30 degrees Celsius summer gives way to the overdue cool of autumn. But, as many of us know, this weather makes it a challenge to pick between our summer and fall playlists.
With its driving electric guitar and fast-paced use of major chords, Ottawa-based indie and alternative band Noise Hotel released their debut album, Poolside Fantasy. It may just be the perfect break between the summer and fall playlists, being put into the world at the perfect time: August 21. They picked up the dying down of the summer months with a sound that resonates perfectly with its album title.
Noise Hotel was formed in 2022 and has since been releasing soundwaves into the world in the forms of singles, an Extended Play (EP), and a live album. With Poolside Fantasy, a fun and tasteful collection of bops, the band’s full-length potential comes to fruition. The band comprises Eric Montpool on lead vocals and lead guitar, Christian Strong on bass, Matt Scharfe on rhythm guitar, and Brendan Vandepol on drums.
This soundtrack for dreaming by the pool kicks off with a song suitably titled, “Here We Go.” This song’s lyrics are chock-full of enticing proposals like, “come on, come on, I’ve been waiting so long for you,” backed by an upbeat guitar line that transitions seamlessly into a ripping solo.
Where the first track introduces new Noise Hotel listeners to lead singer Montpool’s almost Brit-like vocals, the second track confirms the similarities in his voice to famous vocalists such as Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys or Declan McKenna. Here, Montpool plays with a slight vocal fry that enthuses the melody with an enjoyable intensity.
Titled “Pool of Favours,” this track is almost, deservingly so, five minutes in length. There is a captivating saxophone solo that almost catches you off guard and, by its end, lifts the whole piece back into the echoing guitar.
“My Last Girl,” more than any other track on the album, upholds the indie sound that Noise Hotel claims. Although “indie” has a somewhat loose definition and is generously applied in the industry today, the genre’s recognizable thin but authentic tone is there. This label suits the sound in its familiarity; in the best sense possible, it feels as though we’ve heard this before.
Though much of the album is sonically very upbeat, many lyrics are melancholic, or even regretful. In “Caroline,” the repeated line, “I don’t wanna know you” harbours these feelings. The artistically nasal, brit-like vocals of Montpool’s are best displayed in this track and the next, “The City Fun Forgot.”
A slightly new sound comes in to bring things down a bit in “All the Things,” in which, upon entering the chorus, the production works together with the lyrics to create a sense of emotional dissonance; “All the love I save for you, it’s true, just hoping you might see…”
On the seventh track, “Dear Annie,” Montpool’s vocals are paired with fellow Ottawa-based musician Hannah Vig’s. Opening on a stripped-down acoustic line reminiscent of the 1990s, the two duet on a love letter to “Annie” in which the melancholia builds up for the album’s end with the help of the second last track, “Picking Up The Pieces.”
The record’s final song, “Take Care,” epitomizes this fading summertime feeling that the album ceaselessly captures, even in its most buoyant moments. This finale is much more melancholic than any of its counterparts, drawing out honesty in both its lyrics and stripped-down sound. Layered with acoustic guitar and static, there is no hiding from the sorrowful approach of a new season.
This entire album sounds like solid evidence to support the assumption that a live Noise Hotel show would bring the roof down at any venue, so one can only hope they make their way out west. For anyone intrigued by this mere description of their sound, Poolside Fantasy is available for streaming on all platforms. Keep an ear out for their new single titled “Can’t Go On,” releasing October 11.
