Today is a great day to share the new single from Chris Garneau called “Millions.” On this collaborative song with Garneau’s boyfriend, Marc Briz, a lyricist/fiction writer, Garneau channels the love they share into a vibrant single. Co-produced by Garneau and Dan Marcellus, “Millions” takes the listener on an enjoyable and thrilling ride. The song comes from Garneau’s new EP, Out of Love, that will be out everywhere is sold on December 8th. I was also able to catch up with Chris Garneau for a brief interview below.
The production on your new track, “Millions” is quite varied. What was it like putting the song together in the studio?
For over half a year, I did seven or eight demos before landing on this version. I kept recording various layers of synth in the studio, but I couldn’t find the sweet spot. Then one day I was working in my home studio and picked up these percussive shells that I really love, tracked some of those over the second half—and that’s when the song really started to open up. It brightened the sound and shifted the interpretation of the lyrics. At that that point, I decided I wanted to keep going and add a full drum kit, bass over that, and this big choir at the end. It was a long and winding adventure.
Each of the tracks on your new EP come from different point of views — was it difficult to write from so many perspectives?
If anything, it was easier to write from several different perspectives. The lead single “Out of Love” was inspired by a beautiful friend who passed, and writing that one allowed me to move into character-based writing. It was also, as it so often is the case, that you think you’re writing about other people when in fact you can’t escape writing about yourself. My boyfriend, a fiction writer, wrote the first drafts of the other three tracks. It was a relief to have all these words in front of me to workshop together. The freedom of being off the hook from the lyric writing allowed me to dive into the sonic territory in a way that I don’t often get to with my own lyrics. I’m a slow writer who often labors over words, so this sped up the process.
You’ve been putting out music for nearly two decades, how do you manage to keep things fresh as an artist?
I’ve put out five full length albums and while each one has its own sound, I think the first and the fifth were the most similar, as if I completed a wide circle over the last 17 years. To be “fresh” hasn’t necessarily been intention for me. I work with what I have at my disposal and that informs the sound of each album: they all vary in where and how they were made and the budgets available to make them. Of course, the circumstances of my life at the time of writing and recording inform the music too. All that being said, I’ve been making music to survive. As I delve into creating an album, I discover a sense of urgency and an obligation to be as honest and vulnerable as possible. I think that equation leads to work that is daring, raw, and, ultimately, fresh-feeling to the listener.