Condor Matador looks back while moving forward with his new single and video The ’90s Song — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
An ode to faking it until you make it, the Montreal popster’s latest track is “a love letter to disco, written with a punk-rock sneer,” written as Matador (a.k.a. Jeremie Legault) came out of a major funk. “It had been a few months where I just wasn’t feeling like myself. It was the pandemic, I was working in a job that I didn’t like and I was feeling down. Working on Condor Matador was one of the things that kept me sane throughout this difficult time. I wrote The ’90s Song when I started to feel like I had taken a hold of my own destiny by taking steps towards making some much needed changes. Sometimes when we’re down, to lift ourselves up we just have to grit our teeth, double down and try harder. The ’90s Song is about trusting that very process.
“I wrote it in the old apartment I used to share with my wife Jessica. It started out as an acoustic arrangement, but it was in writing the lyrics referencing Cher that I began to feel like it needed the disco treatment. Having spent a lot of time listening to ABBA and Dua Lipa, I was inspired to commission Marky Beats (Marc Dupre, Domeno, Jonathan Roy) to produce a disco and funk style beat to go with the music.”
Legault was also able to involve Andrew Wan, Juno-winning violinist and concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, in the making of the song. Meeting Wan was kismet, he shares. “My sister-in-law, photographer Erika Rosenbaum, had just taken some headshots for Andrew, and he happened to be visiting my brother’s farm on a day when I was helping him with a few things. We connected, and he said that he’d be interested in collaborating on a song.”
The ’90s Song will be included on the upcoming Condor Matador album Dirty Thirty — slated for release in June. “I’m turning 30 this year, and I’m putting together a collection of songs that I feel encapsulate how I am living through this time,” he reveals. “There will be happy songs, and there will be sad songs. I might even do a ballad. I’m really challenging myself on this release.”
Debuting in 2018, Condor Matador has been described as the rock ’n’ roll love child of Ed Sheeran, Blink-182, and just a little bit of Phil Collins. The project seamlessly mixes pop production techniques, fluid rock sensibilities, and impeccable songwriting.
Watch The ’90s Song above, check out more from Condor Matador below, and find him at his website, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
