Bay Guardian contributor Chris Sabbath recently talked to Junior Boys in anticipation of their Sept. 26 show at Bottom of the Hill.
So This Is Goodbye (Domino), the new album from Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus of the Junior Boys, finds the duo getting their signature blend of seductive pop and bubbling electronica that started on 2004’s Last Exit (Domino) down to a science. The pair seem more focused on this album, and the music is more simplistic in nature than Exit‘s. Complicated drum rhythms and mathy tempos reigned supreme on the last album, but Goodbye is a lot more stripped down. Greenspan and Didemus subtly find a dense rhythm or beat and build from the ground up with Casio-inspired emanation, gloomy ambience, and provocative vocals that recalls the synth-pop of bands like Depeche Mode and New Order.
I recently had the pleasure of conducting a phone interview with Didemus while he was on a tour stop in New Orleans.
Bay Guardian: After the success of your last record, did you find the songwriting approach somewhat more challenging for the new album?
Matt Didemus: Yeah, well, the last record was recorded in a strange way. It was recorded over a period of like three or four years and different people were involved. In the very beginning I wasn’t actually even in the band properly — I was just mixing their stuff. There was Jeremy and John, this other guy who left before Last Exit even came out.
Yeah, but the recording process was different because it was done in a much shorter amount of time. I think that definitely affected the way the record sounded. It’s probably a more coherent record than the first album.