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Biography
“Entire Cities taught the kids how to feel again…Entire Cities makes you feel raw and a little broken, a bit shaken and trembling with gratitude.” – Soundproof Magazine
“Toronto’s Entire Cities crammed onto the stage and brought some people to tears with their emotive, rowdy anthems.” – Exclaim! Magazine
To the uninitiated, Entire Cities might seem to have a personality disorder. To their fans, it’s madness with a powerful method and message. From deceptively simple hooks to gratuitously confusing time signatures, from meticulous choral and instrumental arrangements to their gloriously unpredictable live show, the Toronto-based collective (cannily anchored by songwriter and band leader Simon Borer) have been refusing to be pigeon-holed since 2006, garnering critical praise and a devout fan following along the way.
Their 2007 EP Centralia first brought them into the spotlight as “one of Toronto’s most promising indie acts” (New Pollution Magazine). Their debut full-length Deep River was hailed as one of the 2008′s best. It became one of college radio’s highest-charting independent releases of the year, appearing regularly on critics’ ‘Best Of’ lists. Recorded with Dale Morningstar (Gord Downie, Great Lake Swimmers, Godspeed) over only a few days in the summer of 2007, the album features a collection of revivalist barn-burners, soulful ballads and psychedelic cow-punk. Their latest release, I Hope You Never Come Home on Easy Tiger Records, not only expands their range but sheds new light on the artistry of their catalogue.
Entire Cities, led by Simon Borer, is as much about their message as their sound. Critics have quickly picked up on his deeply poetic lyrics amidst the raucously ragged music. Borer’s songwriting is “meticulous and raw” (The Coast Magazine), at turns plain-spoken and hallucinatory. Whether he is crafting a clever dialogue on the negotiations of love, an ode to the limits of language, or plainly recounting the madnesses of rural poverty, Borer manages to marry the delicate craft of his words with his unique musical sensibilities. While it might be difficult to categorize at first listen, Borer traces his approach to a generation of songwriters like The Rolling Stones and the Velvet Underground, for whom genres and conventions were stops on the roadside: places to be frequented, gleefully explored, and pissed on when necessary.
At its core, Entire Cities is Borer (guitar, vocals), Ruhee Dewji (flute, sax, vocals), Jimmy Rose (guitar, lap steel), Paul Sorenson (bass) and Andrew Bartle (drums), but a steady stream of collaborators in the form of artists, musicians and filmmakers have consistently spurred the band’s ever-evolving approach. Entire Cities have toured extensively throughout Ontario, Quebec and all along the East Coast with the likes of the Rural Alberta Advantage and Rock Plaza Central, and have shared stages with The Mahones, the Retribution Gospel Choir, We Are Scientists, The Bicycles, Anathallo and Laura Barrett. Along the way, they’ve been featured in Exclaim!, NOW Magazine, eye weekly, the National Post, the Toronto Star, Torontoist, ChartAttack, the New Pollution and countless blogs.
Entire Cities are busy promoting their new full-length album in venues around the province. Recently named one of ChartAttack’s top ten NXNE live acts, and hailed as a highlight of Halifax Pop Explosion by Exclaim! Magazine, this spring will see them burning through festival dates, an extensive tour, and even the wedding of two long-time fans.
Hall of Records 