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Dancing With Tears in My Eyes

Vancouver synth duo Fine Mist mingles beats with broken hearts.

Alex Hudson 9 Sep 2010TheTyee.ca

Alex Hudson writes for various music publications and runs a blog called Chipped Hip.

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This is another Fine Mist we've gotten you into.

Listening to Vancouver's Fine Mist, you get the impression that singer Megan McDonald has had her share of boy problems. Nearly every song the band has ever written is rife with lovelorn angst, with common concerns including betrayal and disappointment.

Eleven of these heartbroken rants appear on the band's debut album, Public Domain, which plays out like a manifesto for the romantically disillusioned. On the opener "Palm Trees," the singer complains of "Sitting in car as sunsets go by / With my head in my hands / Losing you again." On "Because It's the Ocean," she asks, "Why can't we meet in the middle?" before concluding, "Fuck that, you're leaving for Europe." At times, her outlook is downright morbid, from "Murder Murder" to the opening image of "When No One's Home," which describes a "noose on the hardwood floor."

It's heavy stuff, but this only tells half the story. McDonald's lovesick lyrics are set against the synth pop accompaniment of producer Jay Arner. The buzzy keyboards and dancefloor-ready beats of "Stop or Start" and "I Can't Stand It" are so joyously upbeat that Public Domain might also be the party album of 2010, provided you're the kind of person who doesn't pay attention to the words.

The debut LP comes after two years of intensive gigging, during which the band has shared the stage with the likes of Japandroids and Sloan. And now that McDonald and Arner have finally taken the time out of their live schedule to issue an album, they're already preparing their next release -- a remix record called Nite Sweats that brings together local heroes like Babe Rainbow, No Kids and No Gold along with members of Sloan and Architecture in Helsinki. Not bad for an unsigned band whose first album doesn't drop until Sept. 14.

There's no word on when the remix album will come out, but fans can be assured that the band's catchy electro pop sound is bound to attract more high-profile collaborators soon.

Fine Mist opens for Born Ruffians at the Pit Pub (UBC), on Saturday Sept. 11  [Tyee]

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