Montreal-based art-punk band La Sécurité have returned with the announcement that their debut full length album, Stay Safe!, will be released June 16th via Mothland. Alongside the news, the band has shared the scorching lead single “Anyway.” Blending the surf chic of bands like the B-52s with a mysterious swagger reminiscent of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, “Anyway” is a tight, energetic slice of modern post-punk built from a heavy subject. As singer Éliane Viens-Synnott explains, “This song was written in the early stages of dealing with grief related to miscarriage and pleads a sort of surrender to the strain it can put on a couple processing it.”

The track comes complete with a music video directed by the band. Indulging in VHS aesthetics, the video displays La Sécurité’s exuberant spirit, and eye for stylization. Following the 2022 release of their debut singles “Suspens” and “Try Again,”  the song comes on the heels of the group’s appearance as an official artist at this year’s SXSW. With more new music on the way, 2023 will be a big year for this emerging collective.

La Sécurité’s art-punk is equal parts jumpy beats, off-kilter arrangements, and minimalistic melodic hooks, all run through an insomniac filter — the result of excessive exposure to Montreal’s neon lights. The music is eminently sharp and danceable, while the lyrics share the feminist community-centric ethos of the Riot Grrrl movement. “It’s not just fun and games… it also bites. It’s catchy earworms delivered with a punk attitude,” guitarist Melissa Di Menna says.

After years of working with their many different projects (Choses Sauvages, Laurence-Anne, Silver Dapple, DATES, Pressure Pin, etc.), the motley bunch now meanders the fringes of punk, new wave and krautrock, mischievously flouting stylistic form every chance they get. Stay Safe!’s album art, designed by Di Menna, reflects this approach; scattered entities coming together and falling into place organically.

Since coming together in the Spring of 2022, the five-piece has been invited to perform at SXSW, FME, Phoque OFF, Taverne Tour and DISTORSION Psych Fest, and has shared the stage with the likes of Automatic, Orchestre Tout Puissant Marcel Duchamp, TVOD, Margaritas Poridas, Civic and Annie-Claude Deschênes (Duchess Says). For their first full-length album, the collective turned to producer Samuel Gemme at Gamma Recording Studio (Corridor, PopulationII), crafting songs that are empowering and flush with urgency, yet also reflective and at times tinged with melancholy. Stay Safe! is manic, yet surprisingly laid-back, and should no doubt strike a chord with fans of Le Tigre, Automatic, Wet Leg, Devo, E.S.G. or The B-52’s.

Photo Courtesy: Aabid Youssef