Bonnaroo Band of the Day: Patrick Watson

Patrick Watson is a man and a band. If you’re Canadian, you’re probably already quite familiar with the group’s decade of fantastic releases. For whatever reason, they have’t yet received quite as much recognition stateside, but their latest album, Adventures in Your Own Backyard, seems perfectly poised to change that. The band (consisting of Simon Angell, Robbie Kuster, and Mishka Stein, in addition to Watson) has been nominated for Juno Awards, and received the Polaris Music Prize for their 2006 breakthrough album, Close to Paradise. Originally conceived as a temporary project to compose music to accompany a book of photography, the band has spent the past decade fleshing out their ethereal, baroque pop grounded in indie rock sound. Fans of Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, and Jeff Buckely will find the group familiar, but still quite unique and engaging.

In addition to their four strong studio albums, Patrick Watson have had their music featured in numbers television shows, and composed the soundtrack to French-Canadian film C’est pas moi, je le jure! They’ve toured with the likes of James Brown, Feist, Cold War Kids, and The Dears, and have performed at numerous prominent music festivals. With a pedigree like that, Watson’s Bonnaroo slot seems like a no-brainer, yet even with frequent positive press, the band hasn’t hit the level of recognition of many of their peers. If you like dreamy, ambient, orchestral, and artistic indie pop, this is a band you absolutely need to make a point of catching this summer at Bonnaroo!

Listen | “Into Giants”

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Watch | “Lighthouse” (Official Music Video)