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Sound Advice: Mutant Message by By Divine Right
Every Tuesday, Torontoist scours record store shelves in search of the city’s most notable new releases and brings you the best—or sometimes just the biggest—of what we’ve heard in Sound Advice.
Local indie-hippie king José Miguel Contreras churns out another handful of blissfully psyched-out pop rock tunes on By Divine Right‘s billionth sixth real release, Mutant Message, and five years (and yet another rotation of band members) after the last album, Contreras’ grinning outlook is as warm and present as ever.
Contreras has always been at the centre of By Divine Right, and since the band’s emergence as stakeholders in Canada’s mid-to-late-’90s indie-rock renaissance, a revolving cast of notable musicians have orbited his enigmatic presence—a pre-BSS Brendan Canning and Leslie Feist (as seen in this bizzaro tripped-out doughnut video), as well as BDR’s current label owner Brian Borcherdt, the Golden Dogs’ Stewart Heyduck, some of Rusty, and all of the Meligrove Band, among others. On Mutant Message, Contreras oozes his typical sweet spiritual sensibilities, and on songs like “Que Paso?,” they’re complimented musically by the lulling bass and guitars that almost channel the feel of a sitar. This song, like the others, is ultimately anchored by Contreras’ memorable hooks and dedication to keeping the electric guitar an important creative tool of modern pop music. “Cupid in Oilskins” and “Help Me Find A Place to Land” (streaming above) sound every bit as fresh as they do late-’90s crunch, and it’s obvious that though this is an artist very rooted in a set sound, he isn’t bogged down by his own creative limitations or external expectations.
As flaky as his chakras seem to the slightly more cynical, Contreras is the real deal. Even surrounded by all of the hype of his colleagues, he operates very much outside the typical scene machine; somewhere in the nearby woods watching Sesame Street and infusing his music with a genuine talent, spirit, and a heartening attitude. Mutant Message is an easy listen; a trim, focused pop record that reaffirms José Contreras’ quiet relevance.