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The final single from his upcoming debut album Slather On The Honey, it marks the emotional culmination of nearly a decade spent writing, recording, and discovering his voice. “The title refers to the silence that comes after conflicts have been aired,” LaFramboise explains. “I wanted it to be the last thing you hear, almost like a sigh after everything else.”
Slather On The Honey, out 16 January via 444%, grew from both frustration and persistence. LaFramboise had previously released the pop-leaning single “Open Up!” made with Matt Tavares (formerly of BADBADNOTGOOD), off of his debut EP Soon We'll All Be Smoking, attracting label interest that ultimately collapsed. In response, he embraced a DIY approach, recording much of the album alone on his phone, layering guitars, vocals, and drums to build songs from the ground up before inviting collaborators to contribute keys, piano, and production. Early tracks had been sold as simple Bandcamp demos, but over time they reached listeners who connected with their raw intimacy.
LaFramboise has been making music almost as long as he can remember, but it wasn’t until he moved to Toronto at 17 that he began recording seriously. Early on, he experimented with four-track recorders, chasing an analogue sound, but eventually shifted to his phone. He found that layering guitars, vocals, and drums this way captured a version of himself that felt authentic, something even professional studios couldn’t replicate.
The track itself came together in a single day. “I’d been playing this riff for six years and never knew what to do with it,” he recalls. “Then one day, I suddenly had the verse and chorus, recorded it, found some free samples online, and it worked. I tried to redo it, but nothing felt better than that first take.” The track balances acoustic guitars and a restrained drum break with intimate vocals, creating a moment that is reflective rather than performative. “Honestly, I never really thought about how other people would listen to it. I was just trying to document this thing in my head, to get it out, to make it exist.”
Making Slather On The Honey was not always straightforward. LaFramboise describes working alone on his laptop as frustrating, but listening back to it in his headphones afterwards made the process rewarding. “I think what always drives me is just trying to document this thing, especially when it already kind of exists in your head. You have no other choice because it’s just a matter of trying and taking the time and giving it your all. It stands between not existing and this thing that’s in your head, finally working.”
“TRUEST SOUND” perfectly encapsulates that approach. “It just sums up the record,” LaFramboise says. “It’s sort of the last piece of the puzzle, or something.” Across the album, songs bend and shift unpredictably. Choruses appear once and vanish, arrangements defy expectation, and lyrics are instinctive, alternating between humour, frustration, and directness. Collaborators including Matt Tavares, Josh McIntyre, and Nate Burley enrich the sound, but the essential core of each track remains entirely LaFramboise’s.
Influences from Elliott Smith, Nirvana, and Nine Inch Nails thread through the album, but filtered through LaFramboise’s perspective, they become entirely his own. “I don’t want to sound like anyone else,” he says. “It’s emotional, but it’s also funny in a way. It’s just me.”
Slather On The Honey, and “TRUEST SOUND”, calls the first chapter of Clothesline From Hell. A debut that is as cathartic as it is compelling, and a record that proves LaFramboise has finally found his voice.
English (US) · 