Maplewood Lane

This five-piece band from the Vancouver area has been playing together since 1998. They began as three friends writing and recording early demos together in a basement studio on the Sunshine Coast, and they have since evolved as a band performing throughout the Pacific Northwest. They sold sev-eral hundred copies of their early EPs: “Songs for the Wounded” and “Autumn on the Radio” and in 2003 they realeased their debut full length on Anniedale Records. In the past year since its release, Maplewood Lane have licensed songs to national tv shows (Radio Free Roscoe) and film (Atom Egoyan’s “Cold Water”). Songs from their full length have been featured on CBC radio 3, have charted nationally on college radio and have reached radio playlists in Spokane and Bellingham. The band has played shows ranging from local concerts at the commodore and the media club to music festivals such as New Music West.

With their new ep MAPLEWOOD LANE have found a new assuredness in their songwriting and presentation revealing their love of the dreamy pop song. Once again the band retreated into the studio with producer/musician Jonathan Anderson (Jonathan inc/Radiogram) this time opting to built up the songs to glorious effect with tremolo guitars, multipart harmonies and warm, glowing keyboards. Along with some acoustic moments there are trace elements of shoegazer and a british influence - summers spent listening to bands like the Cure and Slowdive. The Golden Skies takes a bold step out of the gates with the driving “Come What May” which is a good indication of where the band is heading in their songwrit-ing, it’s more direct and electrified set than their understated debut. Where their debut was filled with songs of quiet yearningsung soflty from the corner - the new batch reach out with open arms and wide eyed wonder. There is still a mel-ancholic undercurrent to tracks like the moody“Tears” and the swooning “That’s When it Comes” but it is matched with it’s jubilant counterparts like the down-right joyful “The Brightest Star” and “Canadian Winters”.