Mitch Davis shares new track ‘Hope That’

Montréal based multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer Mitch Davis announces the release of his debut album with Arbutus Records, ‘The Haunt’, out on 29 April. Mitch also shares the music video for his new single ‘Hope That’, watch it here.

A singer-songwriter tour de force – Mitch wrote all the songs and played all the instruments on this compelling debut, all recorded in his home studio during the 2020 lockdown – with much of it recorded on equipment that he also built himself. The result is a uniquely personal statement brimming with colour and optimism even as it ponders universal themes of introspection and loneliness – a record that could only have been made by Mitch Davis.

In a similar vein to Tom Misch and Jordan Rakei, Mitch’s distinctive blend of jazz, funk, sunshine pop and rock is so seamlessly integrated it often feels like a full band effort. Yet everything you hear is a result of Davis hunkering down alone in his home studio in the garment manufacturing district of Montréal while the city was under a strict curfew – midnight to 5am were his working hours – funnelling all his creative energy into the music.

Despite so much going on behind the scenes, nothing about ‘The Haunt’ sounds overworked. A breezy, upbeat listen, it’s very much in tune with the spirit of 70s pop that Davis loves for the way it strikes a balance between musicality and catchiness, complexity and brevity.

Much of the album is very keys-driven – the title track, which closes out the record, is an instrumental piano piece that Davis had kicking around for a while before figuring out what to do with it – and it’s full of warm retro sounds like rhodes, clavinet, and synth. But it’s also a record full of playfully modern moments that surprise and delight, like the unexpected chiptune breakdown near the end of already released single ‘Let it Die’ – a cool contrast to the song’s funky marching bass line and lyrics about deciding to give up on a relationship.

Mitch’s newly released single ‘Hope That’ achieves a unique interplay between a basic drum machine backbeat and the more acoustic instruments and some lovely synthesised strings. Speaking of the track, he says, “I don’t know how apparent it is in the end, but ‘Hope That’ definitely comes from my deep love of crooners like Chet Baker. It was also one of the first ‘singing’ songs I ever wrote, but I’m glad I let it stew and evolve for a few years before recording.”

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‘My City Life’ is the album’s centrepiece; a soulful ballad about feeling lost in the big city for which Davis drew on his own experiences moving to Montréal from a town of 3,000. The song was written in a single sitting, which is unusual for the multi-faceted artists, and speaks to the song’s intimacy and rawness. Though it begins as an intimate piano ballad, it soon shifts into smooth and catchy soft rock, becoming a lyrical tale of loneliness – a sort of ode to online dating in a city through the pandemic – that musically reaches for the stars; a song emblematic of the kaleidoscopic talents of Mitch Davis that are on full display on ‘The Haunt’.

Davis is a mainstay of the vibrant Montréal music scene, with a musical background encompassing everything from rock bands (Faith Healer) to avant-garde (Elle Barbara’s Black Space) to jazz and hip-hop (Cadence Weapon). The Haunt is a synthesis of his many musical interests, stretching back to his childhood when he played drums in the church band and saxophone in his school band (he plays both on The Haunt.)

Though he’s never had any formal musical training, Davis can not remember a time in which music wasn’t a part of his life. When it came time to make his own record, Davis says: “I was always hoping I could find a way to blend everything together and get away with doing a bunch of different genres all at once, because I don’t like dwelling on a certain sound.”