Bell Orchestre Want Their Juno

Bell Orchestre's 2006 Recording A Tape The Colour Of Light debut album bettered many peoples' expectations — even those of the Montreal-based band — when it was nominated for a Juno Award for best instrumental album.

The dust has barely settled on the recording sessions for that record's follow-up, As Seen Through Windows, but Bell Orchestre are already looking forward to more accolades.

"I'm probably not going to sleep until we get our Juno," jokes violinist Sarah Neufeld.

It's startling that a new record was made at all, considering Bell Orchestre's lineup was built with musicians who have other full-time gigs. Neufeld and bassist/keyboardist/percussionist Richard Reed Parry both play with Arcade Fire, percussionist Stefan Schneider is in The Luyas, French horn player/electronics guru Pietro Amato plays for both Torngat and The Luyas, and lap steel guitarist Mike Feuerstack moonlights as Snailhouse.

"It's a little easier to tour — because we can say, 'OK, this week, we're going to Europe' — than it is to get everyone to sit down and write," says the band's sixth member, trumpeter/melodica player Kaveh Nabatian. "But that's what I think is the future: having dedicated writing time."

"We get more done in four concentrated days — like, you don't leave the cabin where you're writing for four days — than we do if we pick a month and say, 'This month we're going to write music,'" adds Neufeld.

Seclusion turned out to be the catalyst for the new album's creation and is also one of its major themes. As Seen Through Windows, which arrives in stores on March 10 through Arts & Crafts, began to come together while Bell Orchestre were in the midst of a residency at the Banff, Alta. Centre For The Arts.

"Our practices... well, we mostly just played for seven hours a day for a month," says Neufeld. "I don't know if you've been to the Banff Centre, but it's gorgeous — everything's nestled in this crazy mountain valley.

"Our practice room was all windows on one side, so we got to see moose and elk and deer and mountains and forest. So we called [the album's title track] 'As Seen Through Windows.' That's the physical description of it.

"The conceptual idea behind the titles is kind of the general feeling of the record — elemental shifts, larger forces, weather patterns, the outside."

After Bell Orchestre make their their way to Vancouver to play in the Cultural Olympiad music series, they'll hit the road for a mini-tour in April. Here's where you can catch them:

Feb. 19 Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom w/Beast and The Besnard Lakes
Feb. 26 New York, NY @ Brooklyn Academy Of Music
April 4 Kingston, ON @ Sydenham Street United Church
April 16 Sherbrooke, QC @ Theatre Granada
April 17 Quebec City, QC @ Theatre Petit Champlain
April 18 Ottawa, ON @ First Baptist Church
April 23 Waterloo, ON @ Starlight
April 24 Toronto, ON @ Courthouse