Indie pop-rock band, Malajube—named after a mash-up of the words ‘maladie’ and ‘jujube’—has become somewhat of an icon in both their native Quebec and the rest of Canada for their musicality and ingenious approach to achieving fame.
An undeniably catchy blend of riffs, synths, and vocals makes the perfect recipe for a crowd-pleaser, attracting Malajube a following both close to home, in the U.S., and as far away as Japan and Norway. They’ve become a fixture at music festivals, with previous appearances at Oshega, SXSW (and its Canadian counterpart NXNE), and countless other shows. Being able to unite those without a common language through a love of music is a skill that Malajube seems to perform effortlessly, with an entirely French repertoire.
Despite their success, the members themselves come from humble beginnings and played in various other bands before Malajube. According to Francis Mineau, drummer for the band, the group formed in 2004 “like any other band” and hasn’t looked back since.
Winning a Juno Award and garnering three Polaris Prize nominations, Malajube has released five full-length albums, with their latest being La Caverne (2011). For the recording of the album, the members went into hibernation in a cavern of their own—their personal, custom-made geodesic dome in northern Quebec—living in seclusion for months on end.
“It was the perfect place to not get bothered by anything because there wasn’t anyone else there,” says Mineau. Although the band no longer owns this hideout, Mineau hopes that they’ll consider experimenting with other ideas, highlighting that the experience may have been a singular one. “We tried it once and it was good but I think we should try something else.”
Since La Caverne, Malajube has been touring extensively and working on side projects, all the while staying true to their roots. The band has been praised for refusing to conform to the English norm for the sake of their non-Francophone fans. Instead of being intimidating, however, the language barrier actually strikes a chord with fans. Their lyrics encourage any English-speaking crowd to learn French, and fans can blissfully enjoy catchy tunes without needing to understand what’s going on.
Their last two concerts of the year, beginning this week, are Malajube’s last hurrah before the band take a short breather to work on side projects and come up with new ideas and music.
“[The break] shouldn’t be seen as a way to say that we’re tired of doing this,” says Mineau, indicating that they’ve still got their sights set on working towards the next Malajube album, sometime in fall 2013. “The plan is to make more music and to concentrate on a purpose—how we can offer something new.”
Malajube plays Corona Theatre on Wednesday, Nov. 28. Tickets are $28.15.
It is always quite interesting to note that when a French-speaking band (or of any language other than English) gains international fame, it automatically spawns titles like « Malajube transcends language barriers ».
Most countries in the world are populated by non-English-speakers, for whom there is a language barrier, and still listen to American pop music, very rarely for the lyrics.
Why is it when a good band does not use the English language, we feel the need to stress it, almost expecting apologies from that group ?
I think this world would be a much more rich place to live in if, while communicating with each other using any common language they like (such as English), cultures respected themselves a little more instead of being expected to jump on every opportunity to drop their language for English.
In that respect, Malajube is an example to follow ! I hope it inspires a lot of other bands from all over the world.