Conjure “Industrial Magic” with Their First New Material Since 2010

Jakalope A FEW DAYS BEFORE YSL PRO TAPPED LEGENDARY VANCOUVER PRODUCER

and musician Dave “Rave” Ogilvie to record an original song, he saw Kraftwerk perform live.

“I think it leaked into the song,” says the musician, who is known for his work with Jakalope, Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails and Carly Rae Jepsen. “[I started with a] simple electronic beat then added more organic layers to it. Soon, it took on a life of itself, trying to combine sounds from that era and from what everyone is listening to today, as well as acoustic sounds. Hitting furniture and living room features has always been a blast, and always makes for more exciting percussion sounds. A little industrial magic!”

The result is a triumphant comeback for Jakalope, Ogilvie’s genre-crossing industrial project, who haven’t released any new material since 2010’s Things That Go Jump in the Night.

Reuniting with Jakalope’s longtime singer Chrystal Leigh and original co-producer Anthony Valcic (at his studio on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast), the new track “When I’m Down” began like all of the project’s songs: with an acoustic guitar and a computer. From there, he relied on an entirely different arsenal than ever before: he used drum sounds from YSL’s gear and built upon them with sounds from a Modal Electronics COBALT8 and the Moog Minimoog plugin from Universal Audio’s UAD Spark. The track was then mastered “in the box” using only UAD and Spark plug-ins by David Roman of 4130 Mastering.

“Not being able to use my usual bag of tricks definitely pushed my boundaries,” says Ogilvie. “It [is] always challenging to find synths that cut through and add to a track. [The COBALT8] has that quality and sound that inspires you to come up with parts that actually show up in your mix.”

Recording Leigh’s vocals has traditionally been a challenge for the group, but Ogilvie found that a Mojave Audio MA-301fetVG condenser mic was up to the challenge. “We’ve always had issues with mics handling her dynamics, but it had no problems,” he explains.

He also used an sE Electronics sE4400a condenser mic for live instruments. The result is a pulsing, futuristic banger, nestling Leigh’s gothic vocals within a swirling synthscape of buzzing electronics, thumping dance beats and spacious reverb from UAD Spark.

Fans and musicians can use these sonic textures themselves, as Ogilvie has shared a free sample pack of sounds used on “When I’m Down.” He says, “I’m hoping that something from it will inspire a song that I hear and go, ‘I recognize that sound.’ That’s always such a great feeling. Such a rush!”

Scan the QR code to hear “When I’m Down” and download the sample pack on exclaim.ca.