Vintage Glory

Photo by Daniela Pagliarello

Mastering the sound and feel of a musical era without becoming redundant can be a challenge, but Lovers Touch of Toronto has mastered the task with the release of their two most recent singles.  

“Dancing Like a Man” and “This Is an Arrangement” share a glittering, swaggering retro sound, reminiscent of their self-professed inspirations – the groovy, funky “dad rock” of the 70s. The music video for “This Is an Arrangement” nails home the homage, complete with a CRT TV border and vintage regalia.  

In the middle of their cross-Canada tour, just ahead of the release of their EP How Does It Make You Feel?, Lovers Touch took the time to answer a few questions over the information superhighway before they hit The Handsome Daugther on August 8.  

 

GH: Your two most recent singles, “This is an Arrangement” and “Dancing Like a Man,” feel like a bit of a departure from your earlier sound. How has your music changed since your last release, and where do you see it going in the future?  
LT: Pretty soon after moving to Toronto, we built a little 10×10 studio in an abandoned garage in the East end of town – we tracked both of those songs there with the help of our friend Noah Sherrin and our drummer Andrew Feels. Our previous recordings had been more of a live-off-the-floor kind of vibe, but this time around, we tracked everything separately and went for a more polished vibe. These were also our first releases as a five-piece band. Our next couple of singles will be a good idea of the direction we are going as a band. That being said, we like to explore lots of different sounds.

 

GH: It seems like you’ve fully embraced and started running with a vintage 70s dad rock vibe, from the sound of your recent releases to your branding and music video. What are some of your inspirations for your music and look?
LT: Music from the 60s and 70s is a passion we all share, and I think when we got together and started jamming and songwriting, we naturally just started to play that kind of music. The video was inspired by those “live” music showcase programs from the 1970s.  

 

GH: What can listeners expect from your upcoming EP, How Does it Make You Feel?
LT: You can expect a short and sweet collection of four singles that hopefully showcase the diversity in our songwriting. Each song has its own feel to it and was written to stand alone as a single. We decided to bundle them together to give people a taste of our different vibes. We’re curious to hear everybody’s thoughts on the tunes and what sound resonates with people the most.  

Our next couple of singles will be a good idea of the direction we are going as a band.

GH: Since your last record, Something Songs, you’ve brought on two new members to the group. How has Andrew Feels and Sam Lewis influenced Lovers Touch’s sound and direction?  
LT: It’s been great to have those guys on board. Sam has actually been jamming with us since the beginning of Lovers Touch, but his musical journey brought him to Toronto before us. It’s been nice to reunite with him. We really wanted a more full sound and Shane [Hooper] wanted to get up and play some guitar and dance around (which is hard to do while playing drums). Andrew was a guy we had on our radar for a while, and he happily joined. It’s been great to have his drum skills but also his expertise in production and mixing (he mixed all the new releases).  

 

GH: You’re midway through a cross-Canada tour. How has touring been so far this time around? Have you noticed any changes from previous tours?  
LT: Well, this is by far our biggest and ambitious tour yet. We did a little tour last summer and went back to the West Coast but didn’t do nearly as many dates. It’s been nice to play a lot and chop up the driving a little bit (not as many 8-hour driving stretches). The shows have been going great so far – every town we’ve hit we’ve had someone graciously offer their home or a space to sleep at night, which has been an amazing help.  

 

GH: What can fans expect from Lovers Touch in the future?  
LT: A full-length album accompanied by a feature-length film with a follow-up worldwide tour in 2019. But really, we just want to keep doing what we love – writing songs, releasing them and playing gigs. Hopefully, all of those things just keep getting better and better!

 

GH: And lastly – what’s the meaning behind your name?  
LT: The name randomly came up in conversation back in high school and it just kind of stuck. It was one of those situations where we had our first gig booked but didn’t have a band name yet. We chose to take the apostrophe out of ‘Lover’s Touch’ so it would instead just be stating the fact that Lovers Touch… it’s just what they do!  

 

Catch Lovers Touch at The Handsome Daughter on August 8 for the Winnipeg stop of their cross-Canada tour, with local openers JayWood and A Topiary.