Music
Mind Bath breaks down the tracklist on Baby You Can Free Your Mind
Collaborating with musicians like Forever and Ouri, Mind Bath belongs to a group of artists getting Montreal’s music scene noticed. Discover the meaning behind his first album below.
A self-appointed “bedroom dubs” artist, Montreal-based Mind Bathcreates melodies as soothing as a long bath by candlelight. Baby You Can Free Your Mind, his highly-anticipated inaugural album, is a culmination of memories, enlightenment and connections that he's collected in recent years. From anecdotes to production notes, we asked Mind Bath to unpack each track featured on his debut.
Patience
The story: 'Mind Bath' was once the subject line of an email I received from a friend inquiring about an ayahuasca ceremony. I then wrote a poem called 'Mind Bath', then turned it into a song, before making it my artist name. The slow reveal of these two words has helped me trust, and be patient with my music.
Behind the music: The album intro "Patience" is my original production from that song "Mind Bath", sped way up and chopped & screwed.
Siempre
The story: My boyfriend at the time and I were both moving out of NYC, him to Miami and me to Montréal. We spent a few days saying our goodbyes in an apartment that had a vocal booth, and I wrote this in 30 mins. I had once texted him “love you” and he responded, “Siempre,” which means always.
Behind the music: I had 3 different versions of the beat before Jeremiah Klein got involved and remade it from scratch, with Mike Bjella on flute. I knew it was going to be the one when my friend described it as "Cry Me A River" vibes. This was the first single from the album.
Flower Tattoo (feat. Forever)
6 min
Mind Bath & friends – Flower Tattoo
Canadian R ‘n’ B singer-songwriter Mind Bath performs his single Flower Tattoo live, accompanied by electro-pop vocalist Forever, and instrumentalists Ouri, Victor Bongiovanni and Elijah Mansevani.
The story: I was baked when I made this. A guy from a label told me my music was too experimental for a pop singer, because I had no hooks. I mean, he was annoying, but it did make me want to do something lighthearted. I needed to have fun, like a summer time jam playing loud out the car window type energy.
Behind the music: Originally I sampled Britney Spears’ "I'm A Slave 4 U" and added the synth line and bass drops. Patrick Holland [Project Pablo] then helped me remake the Neptunes beat and Jeremiah Klein put down the bass line. Forever and I used to be a duo called Cafe Lanai. Shortly after this was written we got to tour Asia with that project and this song brought us great vibrations every show. The sample at the very beginning is a girl on the bus saying "Montréal's boys are just like UGH".
No
The story: This song's kinda vengeful. It's about haunting the person who didn't realize what they had, when they had you. 'You will always love me boy.'
Behind the music: I started writing songs in 2013, the year I moved to Berlin. One of my methods was going to the club and getting in my own little world and jamming my poems over techno tracks. I still have some very sketchy and cool voice memos from this. I work at a club here in Montréal, and I still do it sometimes, and that's how "No" was written. I then brought the lyrics and melodies to my genius friend Ouri, and she went off. The dynamics of the song structure and details in her drums are crazy on this one.
Wild Mother
The story: When I started writing the newer songs for this album I was flipping through my old notebooks for lyrical ideas. I found a page where all I had written was 'Wild Mother. Proud Father. No kids.' This song is about strength and independence. 'No' was some thunder, 'Wild Mother' the lightning.
Behind the music: This song signifies a special moment in my relationship with Ouri. We were stuck trying to take my original kinda ambient composition in way too many directions. She made the call to start fresh and already had the bass and percussion skeleton recorded by the time I came back with snacks and more lyrics. Then came the synth parts, she used her Prophet 8 a lot on this album. I recorded vocals on the spot with her. Every other track on this album I recorded alone in my bedroom. 'Wild Mother' gave way to the Ouri / Mind Bath EP and lives on my LP now as well.
Infinite C
The story: Years later, this song is still tough to sing and talk about. My little brother lost his best friend in a brutal accident when they were dirtbiking together. Connor was very special to me too and his death really shook the small town I grew up in. I wrote this song for my brother, Chris.
Behind the music: The sample at the beginning is from a video sent to me by Connor's sister. He's in the river showing his ass to everyone saying, "You guys hear the full moon's out tonight?" This song was originally going to be on my 'I Was Young' EP, but it needed some room to breathe or something. Ouri plays the cello on the intro/outro and Matt Otto (who mixed and mastered the whole record) co-produced this with me.
Heavy Minimal 4 Singing Heart
The story: Like many of us, I title my beats like 'nice room for smooth voice', 'ooooh la romeo' and 'airbnb'. This title really gave me spiritual direction though, and I reread these words and just let my heart sing - my first freestyle. I did like 3 freestyle takes and had a really good time arranging all the ideas. It sounds like the way a poem sounds.
Behind the music: The production here is so lush, and it was almost track 1, but track 1 side B is just as nice. I met Ayten Ahmet and Felicity Yang on SoundCloud. They're a duo called 'Aiya' from Australia and they added really beautiful sounds and rhythms to my more stark and aggressive demo. Ouri glued us all together with a synth line. In the first days of mixing, Matt and I recorded a huge sample bank of our own percussive sounds which apply to most of these songs. We recorded the forest, our hands, construction sites, an autobody shop, we broke glass, skipped rocks, we dragged chains. On 'Infinite C' we slammed a bathroom stall door in the crescendo. On this song you hear my camera shutter, wind chimes and lots more.
Girl (You Are Everything) feat. Fariha Róisín
"A snake, it smells with it's tongue. Isn't it fitting for a man? Who then grips what he wants with his hands. But man, watch your damn mouth. Watch out for the woman. Cuz girl you are everything."
The story: Fariha Róisín is a close friend of mine, and we had talked about her writing some lyrics for me to sing. I sent her the poem I wrote above to reference. When she came over to share her words, I fell in love with them coming out of her mouth. I heard the potential for her verse to be this All Saints "a few questions that I need to know..." moment. I was so excited about it, you can hear me on the recording encouraging her to "tell the world".
Behind the music: This was a very old ethereal beat from a Sade cover that I used to perform. Guitar was added, then it was all ran through a 4 track to tape, sped up and pitched. This song is divided into two different parts by a nasty sample we made of a pressurized lightbulb exploding. I had to clean glass dust out of Matt's eyebrows.
Dreamin
The story: My friend Boha put this nicely: "'Dreamin' walks the line between knowledgeable club tendencies and an emotionally evocative message." I wrote this song for a friend who was really held down in a bad relationship. It's an anthem of self-love really. I was listening to this while driving to a gig in Toronto, I was alone and having one of the worst days of my life, and I really heard it when I sing "but baby you can free your mind", which is now the album title. I really truly heard that line, and I was able to take some of my own advice. Since that moment I've been really focused on rewiring my brain for happiness.
Behind the music: This song was a last minute addition to an almost finished album. Max (Complete Walkthru) is a NY producer who saw me open for Moses Sumney and sent me several beats 'til I heard this one. I love the big energy right off the top, my flow and lyricism, the excitement when the bass line comes in, and of course the hook in homage to Selena.
Scorpio
The story: This was the first song I ever wrote, 7 years ago. This version is an Ouri reimagination. This is truly young me talking to myself, and talking to my lovers. A young Scorpio relaying the competing truths from each corner of his mind.
Behind the music: Ouri originally produced this to open a live set we were doing together. We wanted something meditative that would allow for my voice to lure the audience in closer. The slow, steady kick as the only percussion gave it a hypnotic quality. Please check the video too. Go watch all the videos for these songs - I made 6 of them for you.
Mercury
The story: This is a love song I wrote when I was living in Vancouver. I was on the ferry coming back to the city from a completely blissful time on Vancouver Island. My friend Libby was with me, and the ocean looked like mercury. It really was a perfect laid back moment. I'm singing to my love, saying life won't get better than this perfect moment. "We could learn the knots, to tie the rocks, to make us heavy, I'd go down with you." Eventually he replies "I'll untie the knots, that tied the rocks, that made you heavy boy. You can float. And there we'll rest, stay, fluid love sway."
Behind the music: I wrote Mercury the first day I got my hands on a piano. I'd never played before. Years later it was recorded in so many loose takes, and was an appropriate nirvana to sit by myself and arrange it during a sunset in Mexico. I loved that night, I really felt like I was living my dream and adding some beauty to the world. I took out all the drums and just let this last song sway.
