Something French

Photographer - Kate Braydon

Latest Release

"It was 90% done."

"It kind of disappeared," explains Chris Braydon, the singer/songwriter behind indie pop band Something French, discussing their long-lost debut album L E M O N S. The album will finally see the light of day via Monopolized Records in 2025.

Emerging from the Saint John, New Brunswick music scene in the early aughts, Something French are a magnificent mess. Melding indie and folk-rock sensibilities with Braydon's sincere, and at times unhinged, vocal serving as the stable center of a rising cacophony.

Conceived as a community jam session in 2005, keyboardist/vocalist Amy Stewart's melodic synths added a layer of depth and reflection to contrast Braydon's building commotion. With guitarist Steven Walsh and drummer Justin Hamilton, Something French were a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, the group broke up after a few line-up changes, and before the album's release, in 2009.

In the years since their disbandment the original album masters became misplaced until 2022, when according to Braydon, they were located "on a computer in the trash." This discovery re-energized the project, with Braydon and Stewart reassembling Something French with new rhythm section of Pierre Cormier on bass and Dan Boyer on drums, and playing their first shows in well over a decade.

As for the album, L E M O N S sounds as fresh in today as it did the day it was recorded. From the nervy indie of "Je Suis Un Microphone," to the the cozy nostalgia of "Most Romantic Time," and the tunefully sinister "Grand Manan," Something French shows that their versatility is their greatest asset, and that they never fail to deliver on a catchy pop song.

L E M O N S, the debut album from beloved Saint John institution Something French will be available Fall 2024 via Monopolized Records.