EPK – Milanku – À l’aube (2023) (Folivora)
Publicist – Jon Asher – jon[@]ashermediarelations[.]com
For fans of Cult of Luna, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Isis, Neurosis, Yoo Doo Right
“After a long hiatus, we are excited to perform this new album live. We have maintained our core sound but we have grown immensely musically, I mean we had lots of time on our hands…and this album basically represents an offering to our fans who have been waiting for new music from us.” – Milanku
Album Title: À l’aube
Release Date: March 31, 2023
Label: FOLIVORA (Canada), D7i (Canada/USA), Moment of Collapse (EU)
Distribution: Believe Digital
Folivora.ca (Label) | Doze.mu/artistes/milanku (Management)
Facebook.com/milankuband | Instagram.com/milankuband | Youtube.com/@milankuband
Apple Music | Spotify | Milanku.bandcamp.com
“Milanku’s third full-length is a thing of beauty and terror. Its dichotomy of clean and harsh is endlessly intriguing, allowing exploration through a garbled shimmer that chokes and sputters across its thirty-nine minutes. While the ubiquitous Isis and Neurosis comparisons are partially fair, you’ll be more apt to recall Holy Fawn or Novarupta of yesteryear; its emphasis on organicity lends itself to minimalist sprawl rather than mammoth brutality. Somehow, though, the unbearable lightness of Milanku’s sound feels more punishing than any riff can provide. While certainly not for everyone and the nuanced post-rock influence takes many listens to unpack, this ascent through the roaring thunderclouds in the pinkish glow of dawn is worth every wound or scar that brought you here – it is an invitation to just be.” 4/ 5 – Angry Metal Guy
“Le groupe montréalais Milanku propose un album qui plaira aux amateurs de rock lourd, à ceux qui recherchent le travail sérieux derrière une démarche sincère.” – La Presse
“The Montreal group Milanku offers an album that will appeal to heavy rock fans, to those looking for serious work behind a sincere approach” – La Presse
“The five-member Montréal band conjures an ethereal sound that takes advantage of ambient soundscapes to drop a robust blend of post-everything.” – Doomed and Stoned
“By and large this is a production that should have a solid appeal among post-rock fans and those with a taste for atmospheric laden progressive rock where instrumental sections is a dominating aspect of the album experience.” – Progressor
“Some records are much more deeply emotional than others. They may hide pain, loneliness, hopelessness and other various positive or negative emotions. These first are some of the feelings that immediately came to my mind and soul listening to Milanku ‘s new record À l’aube. ” – Greek Rebels
“Cette fois-ci, le groupe nous présente un nouvel opus titré simplement À l’aube; une création évoquant un réveil aussi brutal que mélancolique après une nuit apocalyptique. En fait, ce disque pourrait très bien devenir la trame sonore d’un monde dévasté à jamais dont l’existence tient à quelques survivants…” – Le Canal Auditif
“This time, the group presents us with a new opus titled simply À l’aube; a creation evoking a sudden and melancholy awakening after an apocalyptic night. In fact, this disc could very well become the soundtrack of a world devastated forever whose existence depends on a few survivors…” – Le Canal Auditif
“Milanku manages to distinguish themselves from the patterns already seen in post-rock, betting their point essentially on the feelings of the listener by multiplying the textures: vaporous layers, crystalline notes, mysterious atmospheres, subtle experiments up to the crash of hardcore used sparingly but intensifying the many reliefs of this superb new album.” – Eklektik Rock
“À l’aube grants you the luxury of unimpeded time, where no clock can dictate the order of the day. It could stretch to an hour with no diminution of quality, yet five tracks spread over thirty-eight minutes are just as effective. Milanku’s music grows on you and reveals latent pleasures with each listen. You can see snowflakes outside, but you can also envisage a clear blue sky waiting in succession before the evening turns to dusk.” – Scream Blast Repeat
“it always has been, and continues to be about the music, and this album’s visceral power cannot be denied.” – A Closer Listen
““À L’aube; nous sommes disparus” slowly turns into a cyclone, as pop-jazz singer Erika Angell’s voice sounds like a high priestess in the wake of a storm that everyone is trying to escape.” – Pan M 360
“There is something about Milanku and their latest record Á l’aube that causes me to think, there is only one possible comparison and that might be the biggest one to draw in this little niche of ours: Envy. Yes, the one and only Envy. The masters from Japan and their unique sound. Milanku must have listened carefully and then transferred their newly gained insights perfectly into their own realms. Hard to beat in 2023.” – Veil of Sound
“The slowness of the post-hardcore of Milanku or the erasure of the world.” – Weird Sound
[Download Album Cover | Download Album Lyrics]
Album Title: À l’aube
Release Date: March 31, 2023
Label: FOLIVORA (Canada), D7i (Canada/USA), Moment of Collapse (EU)
Distribution: Believe Digital
Track Listing:
1. À l’aube; de leurs silences – 10:54
2. À l’aube; il sera déjà trop tard – 8:04
3. À l’aube; prêchant la mauvaise nouvelle – 5:43
4. À l’aube; de la grande tristesse – 4:55
5. À l’aube; nous serons disparu – 8:41
Album Length: 38:16
Album Recording Credits:
• All songs performed by: MILANKU
• All songs written by: MILANKU
• Produced by: GUILLAUME CHIASSON ET MILANKU
• Mixed by: GUILLAUME CHIASSON
• Mastered by:
• Album Artwork by: FRANÇOIS LEMIEUX
• Member of SOCAN
• Music is Canadian Content (MAPL)
Album Recording and Live Lineup:
François Lemieux (Guitare, Synthétiseur)
Carl Ruest (Guitare, Voix)
Guillaume Chamberland (Basse, Voix)
Guillaume Boudreau-Monty (Drum)
Jean-François Bourbonnais (Guitare)
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The album as a whole (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY)
One whole, poignant, intense. Heavily influenced by the emotions of despair and loneliness brought on by the pandemic.
The lyrics of Milanku are written in the form of text per album. Once the music is composed, the lyrics are composed. The lyrics and the flow are inspired by the music and the feeling it gives us inside. We are inspired by Milan Kundera and more precisely on his works of ”La lenteur” and ”La plaisanterie”. Once the text of the album is composed, the sentences are divided from one song to the other of the album. The music, the lyrics as well as the live performances of the group are very much influenced by the daily life of each one where we are plunged in a reality where everything goes very fast.
Most of the skeleton of the album was built before the pandemic. After a few months of downtime, we refined and modified the songs and recorded the songs in two studio sessions. The pandemic had an impact on the sound of all the songs on the album. Without the pandemic, the result of the album would not be the same at all. The album sounds like a whole, a maturity of the band and a story that is told from the first note to the last.
Track by track (LYRICALLY & MUSICALLY)
If you take the songs titles, they form a poem that describes the process of the story:
-Track 1 – first single as well
À l’aube; de leurs silences = In the dawn; of their silences
A slow post rock piece full of angst.
-Track 2
À l’aube; il sera déjà trop tard = At dawn, it will already be too late
A heavier track that tries to convey the feeling of loss of control.
-Track 3
À l’aube; prêchant la mauvaise nouvelle = At dawn; preaching the bad news
The idea behind this track was about the bombardment of information during the pandemic.
-Track 4
À l’aube; de la grande tristesse = At the dawn; of great sadness
This songs portrays the loneliness, the suicides, the violence against women that our isolation created.
-Track 5 – second single- featuring Erika Angell from Thus Owls
À l’aube; nous serons disparus = At dawn, we will be gone
The most musically emotional track of the album, this song starts of as a sweet guitar melody and slowly turns into a storm featuring Erika’s voice as the grand priestess of this storm that everyone is trying to escape. The lyrics in Swedish and French make it even more mystical.
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BAND STORY ANGLES / FUN FACTS:
1. The band is very influenced by writer Milan Kundera
2. All the visuals and graphics concepts are created by the band, that includes videos, posters, album graphics, etc.
3. Although their music is a little on the sad side, the band is actually very funny and charming.
Photo Credit – Nick Shaw
If Milanku draws its origins from the work of Milan Kundera, the soundtrack is definitely more on the side of the thundering density of the being than of its “unbearable lightness”, galvanized by the Czech author.
From the start, Milanku hammers out its brutal character, infused with melancholy, even dystopia, and standing straight upright on the wire: defiant, shouting, and inspired.
Mesmerized by the warrior’s rage, flayed by its own doldrums, the quartet relies on pared-down arrangements and an oft-staged vocal presence, harmonizing like an instrument, and howling at the big time, but plastered with a disquieting sense of dilettante.
At the heart of the enterprise, tearing off the peels of flapping skins, we explore the state of affairs of the contemporary genre, tragic, desolate, where any notion of common sense seems diffuse in the amalgam of trompe-l’oeil. The texts are meditative, inquisitive and the observations that emanate from them, weep and persist in trying to make sense of it, through its ever-growing losses of illusion.
With four full-length releases behind them, both in Canada (D7I Records, Désordre Ordonné, L’oeil du Tigre), and abroad (Tokyo Jupiter Records (Japan), Moments of Collapse (Germany), Replenish Records (USA), GS production records (Russia), We are Grain of Sand (Russia) Alerta-Antifascista, Milanku presents today À l’aube (Folivora, 2023), a five-track burn that breathes new life into a caste of disenfranchised people, imbued with a disarming lucidity, and gives itself a framework and a voice to pull its head out of the swamp.
International recognition
The band has been affiliated with several; indie labels and distributors over the years, namely: in Canada (D7I Records, Désordre Ordonné, L’oeil du Tigre), Jupiter Records (Japan), Moments of Collapse (Germany), Replenish Records (USA), GS production records (Russia), We are Grain of Sand (Russia) as well as Alerta-Antifascista (Germany).
In 2016, the band will continue to tour Europe, visiting the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria.
The band’s albums have been consistently recognized at the GAMIQ since 2013 in addition to jumping on a plethora of specialized year-end lists around the globe.
Milanku is:
François Lemieux (Guitare, Synthétiseur)
Carl Ruest (Guitare, Voix)
Guillaume Chamberland (Basse, Voix)
Guillaume Boudreau-Monty (Drum)
Jean-François Bourbonnais (Guitare)
Discography:
2023 – À l’Aube (Label – Folivora, Distrbuted by Believe Digital)
2018 – Monument du non-être et Mouvement du non-vivant (Distributed by D7i, Replenish Records, L’Oeil du Tigre, Moment of Collapse)
2015 – Des Fragments (Distributed by D7i, Replenish Records, L’oeil du Tigre, Moment of Collapse, Tokyo Jupiter, Grans of Sand Records)
2012 – Pris à la gorge (Distributed by Tokyo Jupiter, L’œil du Tigre, D7i, Moment of Collapse, GSP Records, Replenish Records)
2008 – Convalescence (Distributed by
Tokyo Jupiter, L’œil du Tigre, D7i, Moment of Collapse, GSP Records, Replenish Records)
Shared Stage with:
If These Trees Could Talk, Féroce, Alcest, The Caution Children, Atsuko Chiba, Zéro Absolu, Oktoplut
Tour and Festivals:
2018 – Nuits Psychédéliques In MTL
2019 – Franco de Montréal
2020 – Coup de Cœur Francophone in MTL
2021 – Metaverse show during the Phoque OFF festival in Québec City
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