Papermaps
Biography
Confessions: To Each Their Own Rapture is most likely the last offering from Toronto’s Papermaps. In late 2014, after tireless support for second full-length, Darker Lights, (known for the Can Alt top-40 hit, “The Hedonist”) founding members Dean Marino and Betty Dimo decided to take an extended sabbatical from live performance. Stripping the lineup down to themselves and drummer Johnny Rowe, they spent four years meticulously piecing together Confessions. During that time, Marino started a family and the outfit relocated studios. For the first time in the band’s career, they worked in outside studios, choosing David MacKinnon (Fembots) as co-engineer on the project. As a result, Confessions has all the hallmarks of an album with an extended gestation: attention to sonic detail, deep textures and sprawling song lengths. Indeed, Marino had to edit the songs down to get the album to fit on a single 12-inch record. Known for their infectious and “structured pop” sound wrapped in experimentalism, Papermaps chose to consciously eschew traditional pop conventions in place for “what came naturally in the rehearsal room and in the studio” wrapped in a confessional lyrical style. Another a first: this album proudly sports a 50/50 writing split between Marino and Dimo. Confessions: To Each Their Own Rapture is available through Sparks Music (distributed by Universal Music Canada) April 13.