Lioness came together, almost in secret, in Toronto in the winter of 2007, when Jeff Scheven and Ronnie Morris, the rhythm section behind the dark, stomping disco pulses of controller.controller, hooked up with Vanessa Fischer of soul-punk quartet No Dynamics. Honing their craft by playing low-key after-hours sets in sweaty, off-the-radar locales throughout the city, the band nonetheless generated a remarkable undercurrent of buzz in the following months, leading to support slots with the likes of !!!, Hercules and the Love Affair, You Say Party! We Say Die! and K-OS.
Their sans-guitar sound is like a head-on collision of old and new, as Fischer draws upon jazz, old soul and blues, roaring and moaning over layers of electronic squall and elastic rhythms like a witch in heat. It’s a clash of organic and synthetic, the sound of disco and house music filtered and distorted through the instrumental apparatus of live rock and roll. On stage, they are a synthesis of electronic rock band and performance art project, a drum and bass wall of sound bathed in red light.
The band recorded their self-titled EP with Rob Sanzo at Signal To Noise and was it mastered by "Nilz" Patel at The Exchange in London. The
Lioness EP was released October 21st, 2008 on New Romantic.
"Lioness is your response to your jaded friend’s claims that indie rock ain’t got no soul."
-XLR8R "Combining the massive elements of Led Zeppelin with the bleeps-and-blips skinny jeans dance craze, Lioness... seems well-poised to pick-up Toronto's coolest band-ever mantle..."
-The National Post "Anyone familiar with the members’ other work won’t be too surprised by what they find in Lioness, but if you ask me, the band are the marriage of those aforementioned bands’ best bits."
-Exclaim! "…sweaty death-disco grooves that are as contagious as the common cold."
-Eye Weekly
"Lioness is the sound of 3 am."
-Vue Weekly "Bass lovers be warned: this disc might be your hottest wet dream since Death From Above 1979."
-CHARTattack
"LIONESS EP"
Order the album: Amazon | Maple | Sonic Unyon | iTunes
Produced by Rob Sanzo and Lioness at Signal to Noise in Toronto. Mastered by Nilesh Patel at the Exchange in London.
"OMENS, ORACLES AND SIGNS, VOL. 1"
Order the album: emusic | Maple | Sonic Unyon | iTunes
Featuring You're My Heart Remixes by Pilotpriest, ccenturiess and Mansion
You're My Heart - directed by Jeff Scheven
You're My Heart in Sonny Fong's winning collection on Project Runway
FOR LIVE BOOKINGS CONTACTGuillaume Lemieux -
[email protected] SL Feldman & Associates
