Jason Bajada - viinyl

With three independent albums under his belt, Montreal singer-songwriter and MapleMusic Recordings artist, Jason Bajada, is set to release his fourth album The Sound Your Life Makes on September 6^th. His first three albums have earned him accolades as one of Montreal’s best songwriters, and The Sound Your Life Makes will only further prove Bajada to be one of Canada’s most talented pop craftsmen.

While his previous releaseLoveshit was coined as a painful breakup album, The Sound Your Life Makes is a representation of natural and organic growth into a diverse and mature pop record. The songs are lighter, more flamboyant, yet still contain the sharp wit and lyrical content listeners are used to hearing. With shared musical references Bajadaturned to production duo and friends Les Troublemakers (BranVan 3000, Lauryn Hill, The Fugees and Beast) to achieve the sound and styling he was after.

“This album is about rolling out of bed after the hangover,” Bajada says. “You might still have a headache. You might fall in love. You might be too careful. You might discover the truth and spirituality in comedy and science. You might find comfort in travel. You might learn that what you thought was love wasn’t at all. You might also get your ass kicked again and again.”

In the controversial video for Down With The Protest (directed by Jean-Francois Rivard), Bajada falls victim to a brutal attack by the much loved Quebec actor and comedian, Marc Labrèche. The assault is savage and extreme, leaving the bloodied and incapacitated Bajada in the hands of model Raphaëlle Savoie.

If you thought Jason Bajada suffered for his art before, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Yes, 2009’s Loveshit was gut-wrenchingly sad at parts, and clearly autobiographical, but the first video from his new album The Sound Your Life Makes is enough to make you shudder and turn away.

Last time, love kicked Bajada’s ass. His pain was emotional. Psychological. Existential. This time around there’s no metaphor—Bajada’s the victim a blitzkrieg attack by celebrated Quebec comedian Marc Labrèche. The assault in the video for “Down With The Protest” is savage and extreme, and leaves Bajada bloodied and incapacitated.

As a piece of art, it’s bracing, shocking and bizarre. Yet that’s not representative of The Sound Your Life Makes, perhaps the most unexpected album of the year.

Loveshit was a breakup album qua breakup album, a collection of songs that chronicled very personal love loss. The Sound Your Life Makes is detached from that, a varied and mature pop record representative of Bajada’s organic growth as a musician and as a man. It’s a glimpse of someone relocating himself and forcing himself to see the sun—sometimes.

“The new album is about rolling out of bed after the hangover,” he says. “You might still have a headache. You might fall in love. You might be too careful. You might discover truth and spirituality in comedy and science. You might find comfort in travel. You might learn that what you thought was love wasn't at all. You might also get your ass kicked again and again.”

Juxtaposing Bajada’s trademark sad bastardry with warmer, more melodic songs—witness the steady momentum of “Pain’s A Pet” and the “Paris Blues”—The Sound Your Life Makes is as varied as life itself. On it, Bajada explores a panoply of moods, and writes songs about the depth and breadth of his experience.

DOWN WITH THE PROTEST

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Lined up your crosshair

Never thought anything of it

Your urgency is waning

I was down with your protest, once when you wanted

I never feel anymore

I never laugh at your jokes and tired punchlines

I'd never call you without a raincoat

The flood's too strong for my arms

I know there's no need to wallow here

In our past

Yes, you left far too fast

I'd rather be careful

Line up your deadweight

Build a dam, 2 years of silence

Frustration is waning

I was down with the protest, once when you wanted

I was down with your protest until I forgot how to speak

I never feel anymore

I never look at your face in photographs

I'd never call you without a raincoat

The flood's too strong for my arms

I know there's no need to wallow

In this past

Yes, you left far too fast

I'd rather be careful