Talk about an album title that truly signposts a major sea change. For the past several years, Luis Dubuc (and his
one-man band The Secret Handshake) has penned and recorded scores of songs by himself, calling every shot and
overseeing every step in the process. His fusion of sugary pop hooks, laid atop a host of samples and caked with
computer-enhanced effects had become Dubuc’s signature electronic-pop sound and landed him the sort of success that
many artists in indie circuits could only wish for.
Enter Night & Day, which holds fast to its title’s pronouncement of seemingly polar opposites. Granted, the gripping
melodies are still firmly in place, but that’s likely where the similarities between Dubuc’s back catalog and his latest creation
end. As Dubuc quite succinctly describes Night & Day, “it’s a Motown record, man.” Almost wholly influenced by the wideranging
Motown scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s, Dubuc made a commitment upon embarking on his latest venture to discard all
his previous techniques and time-tested paths, and start all over again—and it’s an idea he’s had brewing for quite a while.
Dubuc says that each song on Night & Day attempts to represent a different era of Motown recordings. Influences
are wide ranging, including The Temptations, Jackson 5, plus Motown-inspired hitmakers like Blood, Sweat and Tears
and Tower of Power.
The album’s first single is “Domino,” a track about Dubuc’s friends who gave up on everything in music and stopped
trying to progress. “It’s sort of a call out to the people who I’ve known over the years who’ve made music but never really
tried and they’re sort of content in their ways,” he says. “Used to be Sweet” was performed with Canadian artist Lights,
whom he had met at the South By Southwest music festival. “It’s sort of like Michael Jackson’s ‘The Girl Is Mine,’ except
that in this song we’re sort of arguing back and forth.”
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