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One to watch for 2015: Homeshake
Indie | Tuesday 25th November 2014 | Matt
Ex-Mac Demarco guitar player, Peter Sagar, has been quietly busy since leaving the ubiquitous Canadian’s touring outfit earlier this year. Under the name Homeshake, Sagar dropped his first release, The Homeshake Tape, all the way back in January 2013. A nine song collection of sparse yet evocative and bizarre guitar based introspection, The Homeshake Tape demonstrates Sagar's propensity for taking a walk on the weird side. Samples and found sounds lend texture to the record, and serve to bolster the sonic range of Homeshake's guitar/drums/bass setup. On 'Northern Man' we're treated to an audio clip of Reverend Robert Short 'channeling' a UFO, and it's this ability to goof off that defines Sagar's approach to songwriting, keeping his work refreshingly free from pretension or excessive navel-gazing.
Following this summer's 10-track effort, In the Shower, Homeshake looks set to go from strength to strength in the coming year. With his undeniable sense of groove, and propensity for a bit of flange and envelope filter, Sagar brings a welcome touch of the absurd to his songs, but never forgets to keep it catchy. The two singles from In the Shower, 'Cash is Money' and 'Making A Fool Of You' demonstrate Sagar's range well; 'Cash' floats lazily along on a woozy tremolo guitar, the perfect counterpoint to his impassive falsetto as he croons a sardonic goodbye: "I just dont feel it/Even though the cash will keep me warm/She dont believe it/But I dont love you anymore". If 'Cash' is classic songwriting, with a crazy a-tonal lead break thrown in for good measure, then 'Making A Fool Of You' is pure, balls-to-the-wall bedroom funk: mellow, slick and stripped back, with more than a nod to Bootsy Collins in its rhythmic irregularity and envelope filter drenched guitar work.
With only a handful of solo releases to his name, Sagar is still finding his feet stylistically. However, In The Shower is his most assured and fully formed effort yet, and provides plenty of tasty homemade sonic landscapes to get lost in. Far from being beholden to his old band mate, Homeshake has managed to step out of the musical shadow of Mac Demarco and create a sound truly unique. 2015 promises to be an exciting year for Sagar as he continues to grow and develop his sound, and we can't wait to see where he takes us.
