Yves Jarvis — the moniker of Canadian musician Jean-Sébastien Yves Audet — releases his new album, All Cylinders, via In Real Life, unveils the video for “One Gripe,” and announces North American tour dates starting this April through June. Warm and vivid, “One Gripe” is about airing one’s grievances. Of the track, Jarvis says: “Though it does not go unappreciated, loved ones dish out hard truths when I just want to hear myself talk.” He sings: “Talked all night / I needed your advice / One gripe / You don’t tell me what I want to hear / You keep it real.” Jarvis recommends the track for fans of roller rinks, John Mayer, The Doobie Brothers, and Daft Punk.
On All Cylinders, Yves Jarvis expresses a brazen songcraft and pure musicianship: 11 tracks he played himself, without a single additional contributor, transforming his three-time-Polaris-longlisted vision into the stuff of verses and choruses, hooks and hits, which vibrates like a cosmic anthropology. At home, in the studio, at subletted apartments in Montreal and L.A.—he’d roll out of bed and get straight to work, plugging his gear into a half-broken laptop. Whereas once he had fetishized analog tape, now Jarvis appreciated the value of working without any such preciousness: much of All Cylinders was recorded on bare-bones Audacity, sans plugins, channeling the spirit of Paul McCartney’s II.
Jarvis is an omnivore, and All Cylinders smashes together a stunning array of influences: Serge Gainsbourg, Judee Sill, Sheryl Crow, Captain Beefheart, Jackson Browne, Throbbing Gristle, Ray Charles, Brian Eno, Fleetwood Mac, Panic at the Disco… All this is distilled into tunes that feel like taking sips from a cup, or drags from a cigarette—vivid and self-contained tunes that are just two or three minutes long. “I feel like this is the least contrived thing I’ve ever done,” Jarvis declares. Lyrics that matter. Vocals up front, where people will actually hear them. “If something’s true to you,” he explains, “it’s probably true to a million other people.” Check out ‘All Cylinders’ below:
Yves Jarvis Tour Dates:
Thu. Apr. 24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg *
Fri. Apr. 25 – Washington, DC @ Pearl Street Warehouse *
Sat. Apr. 26 – Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s *
Tue. Apr. 29 – Montreal, QC @ Bar Le Ritz *
Wed. Apr. 30 – Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall *
Fri. May 2 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village *
Sat. May 3 – Minneapolis, MN @ Icehouse *
Tue. Jun. 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ Healing Force of the Universe
Tue. Jun. 10 – Los Angeles, CA @ Healing Force of the Universe
Tue. Jun. 17 – Los Angeles, CA @ Healing Force of the Universe
Tue. Jun. 23 – Los Angeles, CA @ Healing Force of the Universe
Tue. Jun. 30 – Los Angeles, CA @ Healing Force of the Universe
* = supporting Fabiana Palladino