Mother Tongues

"...these cybergoths from Toronto’s DIY punk scene are onto something profoundly their own" - Alternative Press (Rising Artists You Need to Know)

Ahead of this Friday’s release of their debut album Love In A Vicious Way (Wavy Haze Records), Toronto’s Mother Tongues today premiered its final single “Dance In The Dark” via Brooklyn Vegan. The lush, dynamic track arrives with a kaleidoscopic video made by Carson Teal and the band’s own Lukas Cheung, which features a hazy live performance in one of Toronto’s underground rave venues and otherworldly animations that bring the album cover to life. “‘Dance In The Dark’ was written in the thick of challenging monogamy: an exploration of sex, romance, relationship anarchy and new ways we can be together,” explains Mother Tongues. Pre-order Love In A Vicious Way here.

The duo of vocalist/bassist Charise Aragoza and guitarist/vocalist Cheung recently landed on Alternative Press’ ‘Rising Artists You Need to Know’ round-up, and Paste calls them “one of the most-exciting up-and-coming acts.” Previous LP singles “Only You,” “Worm Day,” and “A Heart Beating” have also earned praise from FLOOD, Exclaim!, CBC Music, CLASH, DIY, and more.

The pulse of Mother Tongues is the friendship and creative partnership between Cheung and Aragoza, who met a decade ago in a garage turned DIY punk venue in Toronto's Chinatown. Joined here by Kvesche Bijons-Ebacher (synths), Lane Halley (guitar), and Nick Kervin (drums)—who have played with artists like Lido Pimienta, Maylee Todd, and Zoon—Mother Tongues' propensity for rich atmospherics and cinematic arrangements reach stratospheric heights, riding thundering, totalizing waves of angsty alt-rock, interstellar psychedelia, dream-pop-noir, and touches of '90s breakbeat and electronica. "Char and I are both children of immigrants, a factor that has a huge impact on your entire life. You're confronted with the need to constantly justify your existence, and this permeates into every aspect of your life—including how you create. I've been trying to see this as less of an obstacle and more as something that charges your work with an intensity and urgency that otherwise might not be possible," says Cheung.

While Aragoza is no stranger to the stage—having wet her feet performing in Luna Li and touring alongside acts such as Japanese Breakfast and Beabadoobee—Mother Tongues sees her stepping into the role of singer and front person for the first time.

"We're peering into the future and imagining what this world could be. It's a little William Gibson, a little cyberpunk, it's lit like a Wong-Kar-Wai film. It's queer, it's free, a little goth, everyone's wearing eyeliner," Cheung laughs as he explains the musical world of Love in A Vicious Way. "It's an exploration of the darker ways we love, the parts with teeth," he continues."It possesses you, it's a pit you fall into. Love overtakes you, this record is about surrendering to that feeling."